Council approves small-lot housing overlay at 5804 Corby St.; neighbor and developers clash over private sewer easement

The Omaha City Council approved an ordinance to create a Planned Unit Residential (PUR) overlay district for a small infill housing project at 5804 Corby Street, advancing a design-build project led by Partners for Livable Omaha and its project partners. The vote was 7-0, but the meeting record shows substantial concern from an adjacent homeowner about a private sewer lateral running beneath the proposed lot and uncertainty about who will bear replacement costs.

Jessica Sherman, executive director of Partners for Livable Omaha, described the project as a design-build, “aging-ready” housing initiative developed in collaboration with the College of Architecture and project partners. Sherman said the proposed development would include two unit types with list prices she described to the council: about $150,000 for a one-bedroom unit (roughly 600 square feet) and about $190,000 for a two-bedroom unit (roughly 775 square feet). Sherman said 17 graduate architecture students had worked on the design for about 30 weeks and that the project’s builder is Holy Family Housing.

The…