Our View - Learning from Idyllwild's past, present, future

(Iowa City Press-Citizen "Our View," June 13, 2009)

On Jan. 23, 1990 -- 3½ years before a so-called "100-year" flood and 18½ years before a so-called "500-year" flood -- the Iowa City Council voted 5-2 to approve the preliminary plat of a then-proposed 20.8-acre, 68-lot subdivision called Idyllwild.

At the time, then-councilors Susan Horowitz and Karen Kubby voted against the measure because of the city's potential liability after a major flood. Then councilors John McDonald, Bill Ambrisco, Randy Larson, Naomi Novick and Darrel Courtney voted to move ahead with the subdivision because the plan called for all buildings to be at least one foot out of the "100-year" floodplain -- which meets all the requirements and floodplain ordinances.

"I think we have a responsibility to look at this information," McDonald said at the time. "But I also feel we have a responsibility to give these people (the developer and the builder) some answers."

The five councilors passed the measure with the understanding that they would deny final approval if new information indicated a danger to people's lives or property. But not enough of that "new information" seems to have arrived (although many experts were on hand to warn the council that predicting a "100-year" floodplain was an inexact science at best). And, almost exactly two years later, the council unanimously voted to rezone the tract to allow development of as much as 104 condominiums. Ninety-two units have been built, and the city now is in the process of buying out the undeveloped land.

A flood of "new information," of course, came in 1993 and 2008. The base elevation for the floodplain was raised after 1993, and the experts are still collecting and studying the data from last summer's flood before deciding how to change it again.

But those requirements didn't help the residents of Idyllwild who trusted the city officials, engineers and insurers who said the odds of catastrophic flooding outside of the 100-year floodplain were so small that they needn't worry about it. In the past year, many of those flood-displaced families have moved back into the floodplain -- not because they're not worried about future floods -- but because they think they have no other financial options.

Take Charlie Eastham, for example. As both president of the Housing Fellowship board of trustees and member of the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission, he has a broad perspective on housing issues. But the retired university employee's perspective grew even broader during the time that he and his wife, Karen Fox, were displaced from their flood-damaged home at 37 Colwyn Court.

The couple didn't have flood insurance -- Eastham said they were told in 2004 that they didn't need it and couldn't get it -- and they don't qualify for any buyout program. Yet through a combination of additional loans and some state funds, they are able to move back into their home.

The Idyllwild Condominium Association Board is holding a Flood Reconstruction Celebration at 3 p.m. today to mark the progress made by Eastham and other residents. Board President Sally Cline said about half of the subdivision's units have been restored and about 30 units have been sold -- sometimes for less than a quarter of their pre-flood price. Cline hopes that 90 percent of the units will be restored by this fall, with about 20 units becoming high-end rentals.

"Compared to where it was six months ago, I'm amazed," Cline said.

We, too, celebrate what Idyllwild residents and other flood victims have accomplished in the past year. But we hope our city, state and federal leaders have learned just how foolish it would be to approve any future construction along the river.

Eight months out, flood victims still treading water

Charlie Eastham, the president of the Housing Fellowship board of trustees and member of the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission, has long had a broad perspective on housing issues. But the retired university employee’s perspective has grown even broader during the nearly eight months that he and his wife, Karen Fox, have been displaced from their flood-damaged home at 37 Colwyn Court in the Idyllwild neighborhood.

The couple’s story serves as a timely reminder that, although the floodwaters receded months ago, many area families are still struggling to get their heads above water and that many area agencies need more donations of time, money and labor to help meet these families’ long-term needs. It also illustrates how many displaced families are moving back into the “500-year” floodplain — not because they don’t know better — but because they think they have no other financial options.

Eastham and Fox — with the help of friends and family — managed to remove all the furniture and appliances before their condo filled with 40 inches of water last June. But they’ve had both their lives and their finances turned upside by the devastating financial loss of their primary investment: their home. The couple didn’t have flood insurance — Eastham said they were told in 2004 that they didn’t need it and couldn’t get it — and they do not qualify for any buy-out program. So they continue to face the hard, seemingly inevitable decision of having to borrow even more money, apply for state funds and ask for even more help to rebuild their home in a spot that is likely to flood again sometime in the next decade.

Eastham said the couple paid $182,000 when they bought the condo in 2004 and that the last assessment before the flood valued the home at $196,000. Although the appraisal after the flood valued the house at $113,000, the couple is still paying off a $122,000 mortgage with Hills Bank and facing about $65,500 in repairs in addition to clean up costs of $21,700.

With the numbers so upside down — and with rent to pay on top of the mortgage — Eastham said the couple seriously considered simply walking away and allowing the bank to have the property. Sally Cline, president of the Idyllwild condominium association, said that, of the 86 units in Idyllwild, there already have been four foreclosures and one bankruptcy since the flood. Other owners have sold their units for as low as $10 and as high as $85,000. But Cline also said one of the units, which had been sold to a developer at a very low price, was cleaned up and resold for $125,000.

Eastham said he feels he has little choice but to go forward with repairs. Because 37 Colwyn Court is a one-story unit — which is one of the reasons why the 67-year-old Eastham bought it in the first place — the couple doesn’t have the option of moving their furnace and other essential features to an upper floor. Instead, the only protection they have against the ravages of the next flood is flood insurance.
Eastham said he probably won’t move back into his Idyllwild condo until his rental lease ends this summer. Cline said only 17 of the 86 units have been reoccupied. She moved back into her unit on Monday, even though the condo has neither carpet nor countertops and even though she also has to pay rent until her lease runs out.

Johnson County’s Long-Term Recovery Committee is working to ensure that people like Eastham, Fox and Cline eventually can find some other options. And the different agencies represented on the committee are also coordinating volunteer efforts to help out all flood-affected families as their needs continue to evolve.

For information on how to ask for or to offer help, call 337-VOLS (8657).