Omaha City Council Meeting

First is a proclamation recognizing January as Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month. The resolution, read by Council President Pete Festersen, says occupational cancer among firefighters has reached epidemic levels

Today’s agenda is starting with liquor. License approved for Curry In A Hurry at 8303 Maple St.
Festersen said one neighbor brought up concerns about trash on the property, but the owner said the issue has been taken care of

Licenses for Sips on 10th at 1022 S 10th St and B&B Theatre at 3555 S 140th Plaza both approved

License for Mio Italiano Ristorante at 3001 S 32nd Ave

CM Danny Begley moved for a stipulation limiting single sales for a liquor license for Shankhar Food Mart at 822 N 40th St, approved 7-0

License approved for Cuming Food Mart at 4002 Cuming St with a stipulation restricting sales less than a pint. There’s some confusion about what a pint is (it’s 16 oz)

Licenses for Quick & Friendly at 4751 S 96th St and Mega Saver at 4015 S 42nd St both approved

The last four licenses are all for various Family Dollar Store locations. CM Begley moved to deny the first license for the 3552 Leavenworth St. He said its license application was denied in 2019

Motion to deny passed 5-2, Harding and Melton voting no

On a Family Dollar location at 2930 Sprague St, CM Johnson said there are schools and youth services nearby. She said the area is already saturated with alcohol, so she moves to deny the license

Sprague St location denied 5-2 along the same lines

For a location at 1516 NW Radial HWY, Festersen said he has similar concerns as Begley and Johnson to the other locations. Johnson made a motion to deny

CM Aimee Melton said she’s confused about what values the other councilmember’s believes Family Dollar is violating.

Jonathan Crumlee, representing Family Dollar, said locations find that customers buy more items with their alcohol when single sales are available. He said the rate of illegal or improper sales is infinitesimally small

CM Brinker Harding said Family Dollar is involved in communities both in Nebraska and through charities nationwide

Begley asked Crumlee if Family Dollar views union organization as a family value, which he didn’t give a firm answer to. License denied

Begley made a motion to deny the last Family Dollar location at 834 S 24th St. He asked city attorney Ryan Wiesen to show a map of nearby liquor stores, which Begley said are all within a stone’s throw of each other

Begley said there are crime issues in the area, and neighborhood associations are against the license

Festersen said density is an issue in this neighborhood and he doesn’t think a new liquor license would be beneficial. License denied 5-2

Family Dollar walks out of here 0-for-4

Next is a final plat for Highlander East Replat 1 at 29th and Burdette Sts.

Opponent Luke Schroer said this is a walkable neighborhood and would benefit from adding a bicycle and pedestrian-only road. The developers are proposing a low density housing redevelopment

28th St, adjacent to highway 75, has been vacated. But the developer said a new right of way at 28th ave was added.

Final plat approved

Next is a $1.8 million TIF agreement for the Square Apartments at 30th and Leavenworth. Don Seten from city planning said it’s in an extremely blighted area, meaning it qualifies for a 20 year term. It’s also within the streetcar district

The existing building on the site will be demolished and replaced with a four story apartment building with 73 units

Opponent Luke Schroer said 131 parking stalls for the building is too many and doesn’t help promote transit use. 11 parking stalls will be along Leavenworth, which Schroer said would be an issue for cyclists

Luis Jimenez is an opponent bc he doesn’t believe the area should be considered blighted.

Jimenez blamed school districts’ funding issues on TIF projects approved by the city council

Opponent Michael Kolakowski said he’s a bicycle commuter and he reiterated Schroer’s concerns about parking. He added that the proposed rents wouldnt be affordable, especially for an extremely blighted area

Seten said the area does meet the criteria for extremely blighted and the project meets TIF criteria

He said the proceeds received by the school district would not be reduced by TIF. The property tax rate will stay at its current rate until the 20-year term is up, which will ultimately mean more tax revenue after development

Seten said the amount of parking is a choice by the developer, not the city’s requirements

CM Begley said the city is doing all they can on affordable housing, but he’ll support this project. TIF approved 7-0

On the consent agenda is the reappointment for Joel Dougherty as Commissioner of the Omaha Housing Authority. OHA Board Chair David Levy said Dougherty has been a helpful member of the board

Consent agenda approved, including funding for several community services

The City Council approved an agreement with Douglas County for funding the Omaha Convention and Vistors Bureau

An amendment to the mixed use district for Waterford Crossing to allow a Verizon cell tower at 7110 N 154th Ave was approved.

$25,000 in ARPA funding for the Dreamland Park Fountain was approved

The Council also approved nearly $300,000 for renovations at Lynch Park

The next three items would approve a design-build contract to construct parking facilities at Heartwood Preserve

Items approved 7-0

Last is public hearing on an item regarding the Small and Emerging Small Business Program. Assistant city attorney Stacey Hultquist said this ordinance just “cleans up” some of the language in the municipal code

Meeting adjourned at 3:37 pm