Neighbors oppose rezoning at 6636 N. 30th Ave.; council lays matter over to allow developer/neighborhood meeting

The Omaha City Council on March 4 voted to lay over a rezoning request for property at 6636 North 30 First Avenue until its April 8 meeting after sustained public opposition and requests for more information.

Neighbors spoke at length against changing the property from R-4 to R-5, which would allow duplex development, citing concerns about parking, traffic congestion, the absence of a finalized site plan, whether the property is one or two legal lots, and potential use as rental housing rather than single-family homes. Multiple speakers asked for the applicant, identified in the record as Mr. Koski (owner), to meet with neighbors; the applicant was not present.

April Sloan and Scott Kracci, residents who said they live directly behind or near the lot, told the council they feared overcrowding and loss of neighborhood character if duplexes with multiple bedrooms were built. Sloan said the front street already suffers congested parking; Kracci questioned whether a proper site plan or legal survey exists and noted building-slope, basement and trash-collection concerns.

Dave Fanslow, director of the Planning Department, responded to residents’ technical questions. Fanslow said the property consists of two legal lots of record even though GIS parcels may show a single parcel. He described the application to the council as a “simple rezoning” and emphasized that the plan submitted with the rezoning request is only a conceptual site plan. Fanslow noted gravel parking is not an allowed permanent parking surface and that any future building permits would be reviewed against zoning, building code and slope requirements; he also said R-5 is a low-density residential district that is master-plan compliant for the requested change.

Councilmember Johnson, who said the property is in her district and that constituents had concerns, moved to lay the rezoning over to April 8 so the owner and neighborhood could meet; the motion passed 6–0.

The council record shows that, if the council later approves the rezoning, any specific development will still have to satisfy building-permit review, parking-surface rules, setback and other zoning requirements before construction. Residents had asked for clarifications on the number of on-site parking spaces, garbage collection locations, the presence of basements for tornado safety and whether the dwellings were intended primarily as rentals.

Clarifying details from the meeting show city staff will require a code-compliant site plan at the building-permit stage and will not allow gravel as a permanent parking surface. The Planning Department emphasized that design guidelines for single-family homes do not apply in most of the city and that the zoning code does not require new single-family homes to match existing architectural character unless a specific urban design district or PUD designation applies.

Next steps

The rezoning item is scheduled for council consideration again on April 8. The council’s layover gives time for the applicant to meet with neighbors and for residents to submit additional materials; neighbors indicated they would coordinate outreach and may seek legal review of the application.