A 90-acre development that had been opposed by neighboring landowners because of small lot sizes was approved Monday by the Lincoln City Council.

Garden Valley, to be between Humphrey and Fletcher avenues and Seventh and 14th streets, will have about 325 homes, with prices starting at about $100,000 to target first-time homebuyers.

A compromise reached since the project was last discussed before the council increased the size of eight lots.

The debate provided Councilwoman Robin Eschliman a forum to suggest that the city requires too much land to be set aside as green space for flood control, forcing low-price homes onto smaller lots to make them affordable.

The flip side, Councilwoman Patte Newman argued, would be to allow people to build in flood-prone areas, placing properties at risk.

In an unrelated development, the council did its part to protect soldiers driving tractor-trailer trucks in the Middle East by denying a permit to crush concrete on one north Lincoln property.

Dust connects the disparate issues a half a world apart.

When the development plans for a former metal recycling yard at 3900 Industrial Ave. got hung up by environmental issues, the new owners turned to concrete crushing as a way to profit in the interim.

Dust from the crushing, however, disturbed more than neighbor Carol Brown, who said she developed an asthmatic attack while walking past the site on a bike trail.

Dust also raised worries for officials at Lincoln's General Dynamic plant, which provides armor protection kits for the U.S. Army's M915 tactical wheeled vehicle, the military version of a commercial tractor-trailer. The armor retrofit kits help protect soldiers in Iraq from roadside bombs.

Dust from the rock-crushing operation may compromise the quality of the welds and interfere with adhesion of special paint that can be decontaminated if exposed to biological or chemical agents, company officials said.

Opponents of the concrete crushing showed pictures of thick dust clouds in the area.

Bob Lewis, project manager for Hampton Development, spoke on behalf of the concrete crusher, asking to be given another chance to comply with air quality standards. If the company did not meet them, he said, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department had the authority to shut it down.

Councilman Dan Marvin argued that in light of the record of dust and the gravity of the need for armor in Iraq, he would vote against the crushing permit.

Reach Mark Andersen at 473-7238 or mandersen@journalstar.com.