Rivermont Collegiate's classroom/housing expansion plan rejected by Bettendorf plan & zone commission

Rivermont Collegiate's initial plan to add a 4-story building for on-site housing and additional classrooms was rejected unanimously by the Bettendorf Planning and Zoning Commission with members calling it a major intrusion into a quiet, residential neighborhood.

The private, college prep school needed city approval to change the land use for property targeted for construction of a proposed 28,000-square-foot building to house 32 foreign students and provide two floors of classroom space.

The school at Sunset Drive and 18th Street includes the historic Joseph Bettendorf mansion along with a performing arts/classroom building to the east of the Bettendorf home. The school already has demolished a small carriage house on the east side of the property to make room for the new dormitory and classroom structure.

Plan and zone members at the commission's Dec. 20 meeting expressed concern about the lack of buffering between the large four-story structure and homes on the east boundary of the property with members calling the plan "too intense" a use for the neighborhood.

The commissioners expressed support for the school expansion, and said they hoped the Rivermont would return with a more acceptable site plan for expansion of its facilities.

One adjacent resident recommended the school purchase existing apartments west of 18th Street to house students rather than build their own dormitory.