Council opens public hearing on Quail Crossing rezoning and preliminary plat; neighbors raise traffic, noise and density concerns

The Bellevue City Council opened a public hearing Aug. 5 on Ordinance 4188, a rezoning and preliminary plat for the Quail Crossing development at the southwest corner of 40 Second Street and Highway 370.

Kyle Veil, civil engineer with ENA Consulting Group and the project engineer, told the council the current submission modifies a preliminary plat approved in March by removing a short north‑south public street and instead extending an east‑west road (Shannon Drive) through to 40 Fifth Circle. Veil said the change reflected a prospective user’s revised needs and that the planning commission had given unanimous approval to the earlier preliminary plat. "We are proposing to remove that pink segment of road that dips north‑south and instead continue the east‑west road," Veil said.

Traffic and infrastructure: Veil said a traffic study shows most new traffic will use 40 Second Street and the Highway 370 interchange, and the project includes intersection improvements: adding a second westbound left turn lane at the Highway 370/40 Second interchange, signal modifications and an additional southbound lane on 40 Second. Veil said the project will perform intersection improvements and add lanes to help accommodate projected traffic patterns.

Zoning, uses and density: The applicant seeks BG zoning for the commercial parcels and RG20 with a PS (public‑safety overlay) for a multifamily parcel that abuts Moss Road. City staff said BG zoning allows typical highway‑corridor commercial uses; permitted commercial tenants are not specified in the application. Staff said the RG20 multifamily zoning requires 2,000 square feet of lot area per dwelling unit; based on the developer’s land area, staff calculated a theoretical maximum of about 120 units on the multifamily lot, but site plan approval will be required later and would set building height, unit mix and final density.

Residents pressed the council and developer on noise, late‑night uses, safety and wildlife impacts. Theresa Gerlando and Charmaine Howard of Lakewood Villages expressed concerns about increased late‑night activity, the lake’s acoustics amplifying noise, trespassing on private lake property and possible impacts to wildlife. Gerlando asked whether the council could impose use restrictions given the proximity to residences; planning staff replied that BG zoning along the Highway 370 corridor typically permits the standard set of commercial uses and that restrictions would be difficult to impose without a development agreement or covenants. "Under the present request, they would be zoned for it, and it would be as long as it was a permitted use in the zoning ordinance, they'd be allowed to do it," a planning staff member said.

Landscaping and buffers: Staff noted multifamily projects carry significant landscaping requirements, including a 15‑foot deep landscaped area along street frontage, tree and shrub minimums per unit and a requirement of landscaping area in parking lots (staff cited roughly 19 square feet of landscaped area per parking stall). Staff also noted there are two out lots shown on the plat that are designated unbuildable.

Process and next steps: The council left the public hearing open and set the ordinance for third reading and final vote on Aug. 19, 2025. If the rezoning and preliminary plat are approved, the developer will file a final plat and later seek site plan approval for the multifamily parcel and any commercial building plans.

No council vote was taken on Aug. 5. The public record includes traffic‑study review by the city and the Nebraska Department of Transportation, and staff told the council the project team will perform intersection modifications as part of the development approvals.

The developer in the hearing identified himself as Todd Moffitt on the project team and appeared with engineer Kyle Veil. Several residents, including Theresa Gerlando, Charmaine Howard and Larry Reasoner, spoke during the public comment period and asked the council to consider additional protections for nearby neighborhoods.