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Council approves special permit for garden center near Highway 77 despite neighbor safety concerns
Summary
The council approved a special permit 7–0 to allow a garden center on the east side of North 56th Street between Bluff and Waverly, after neighbors raised concerns about shared driveway access, runoff, dust and traffic onto 70 mph Highway 77.
The Lincoln City Council on Jan. 27 approved, by a 7–0 vote, a special permit (24009) allowing a garden center to operate on property east of North 56th Street between Bluff Road and Waverly Road. The project was appealed by a neighboring property owner but the council acted as if the application were new and voted to approve the permit with conditions recommended by the Planning Commission.
Jason Schwenk, who appealed the planning commission decision, said his property has shared access with the proposed site and that he feared trucks and customers would use his private drive. "I'm opposed to the whole thing," Schwenk told the council, citing safety concerns on Highway 77 (a 70‑mph road), runoff onto his property and insufficient visual screening in the early years after planting.
Blaine Price, the applicant, said proposed hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays with possible limited Saturday mornings, and described operations that will include nursery stock, decorative stone, sand, gravel and other landscaping materials. He told councilors the applicant is willing to coordinate with the neighbor on driveway design and to place nursery rows and screening within a 100‑foot setback.
David Carey, director of planning, summarized the Planning Commission's recommended conditions: (1) revise the site plan to add a T‑shaped or similar driveway east of the property line to separate residential and commercial traffic, up to 40 feet wide and subject to county engineer approval; (2) install two directional signs (one for the garden center and one for the residence) at the shared access; and (3) provide screening that includes evergreens at least 5 feet tall at planting spaced to achieve a visual buffer in combination with rows of nursery stock planted behind the perimeter buffer.
Councilors pressed on several practical points during the hearing. Councilman Beckias emphasized the importance of the applicant's willingness to work with the neighbor on the driveway design; Price confirmed he would. Councilors also asked about dust, material placement, and the time it will take planted screens to mature. Price said a transplanted evergreen typically takes 12–18 months to establish, then grows roughly 6–8 inches per year, and that a planted 5‑foot tree could be 7–8 feet within about four years under typical conditions.
Planning staff said the use is allowed in agricultural zoning by special permit; the Planning Commission had recommended conditional approval. The council's affirmative vote preserves the Planning Commission's conditions and allows the applicant to move forward with final engineering and county coordination on driveway design and drainage.
Action recorded: the council vote to approve the special permit was 7–0. The Planning Department will coordinate required driveway design work with the county engineer and the applicant; neighbors will be involved in driveway design per the applicant's stated willingness.
