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Introduction
The Omaha City Council adopted the Urban Design Element as a component of the city’s master plan in December 2004. Since that time, a core group of city officials and staff from Omaha by Design have been working with consultants and a Technical Advisory Group comprised of area developers, architects, land use attorneys, nonprofit organizations and others to draft implementation measures for the Urban Design Element. These measures include proposed amendments to the zoning and subdivision codes plus new municipal code provisions.
Q: What is the Urban Design Element (UDE)?
A: It’s a framework that establishes the city’s long-range policies, goals and standards as a general guide for its physical development. The UDE centers on three components: Green Omaha, which calls for the preservation and enhancement of the city’s natural setting and public park system; Civic Omaha, which calls for the definition and improvement of the city’s civic places and public image; and Neighborhood Omaha, which calls for the preservation and enhancement of the diverse character of the city’s residential neighborhoods.
Q: Who developed the UDE?
A: The UDE was developed during a 14-month process lead by a partnership between the Mayor’s Office, the Planning Department and Omaha by Design in collaboration with national urban planning consultants, a volunteer Working Review Committee and hundreds of interested citizens.
Q: Why is the UDE necessary?
A: The charter of the City of Omaha lists urban design as one of the required components of the Master Plan. The UDE was passed by the Omaha City Council in December 2004 to comply with the charter. It also reflects the future vision the citizens of Omaha identified as a desirable goal during the 14-month comprehensive planning process.
Q: When will the UDE become effective?
A: Although the UDE is officially a component of the Master Plan, the implementation measures that give legal authority to the zoning code revisions will go into effect upon adoption by the Omaha City Council. The Planning Department will establish a “phasing in” timeline.
Q. What is included in the UDE’s implementation measures?
A. The implementation measures will include modifications of certain existing zoning classifications and provisions, as well as new zoning classifications and urban design provisions. These provisions will address issues like major commercial corridors and intersections, public buildings, infill development and pedestrian orientation. Other areas that will be addressed include signage, lighting, public art, public utilities, public buildings and streetscapes. Areas of Civic Importance will be identified and given higher design emphasis. These areas include corridors and districts that are the most important to the city’s image.
Q: How will these measures be implemented?
A: Through the City of Omaha Planning Department and the boards it administers. These boards, whose members are appointed by the mayor and ratified by the city council, have specific responsibilities outlined by the city charter or city ordinances.
Q: Are the implementation measures costly, and who will be paying the price tag?
A: It is possible that certain new standards will increase the cost of development. The impact of the new standards or guidelines should not – even in the most extreme cases – drive away potential investors since the changes are reasonable, fair and will be applied consistently.
Q: Will the implementation measures prohibit new development?
A: Most of the proposed changes in the UDE have been informally put into practice by the planning department for the past six to eight years. This time period coincides with one of the biggest construction booms in Omaha, including development of the riverfront, the central business district and several recently announced mixed use projects in Midtown, Aksarben and Southwest Omaha.
Q: Are tax dollars going to be effected by the proposed zoning changes?
A: No. Tax dollars have not been used to fund the planning process, and no tax dollars will be used for implementation. Depending on certain circumstances, some public funding may be used, as in the case of “Blighted and Substandard” designations or other incentive-based programs.
Q: Will these changes affect me as an individual homeowner?
A: The proposed changes do not relate to residential issues except for the creation of “Walkable Residential Neighborhoods,” which is an optional zoning classification for developers who want to build this type of alternative housing development. The “What’s New on State Street” project is an example of this housing option.
Q: Will these changes negatively impact the city’s underserved population in any way?
A: A city must be and remain economically competitive in order to secure the resources it needs to care for all sectors of its citizenry. The goal of the UDE is to help each geographic area of the city become economically viable, not just the downtown area or the suburbs.
Q: Are other cities doing the same thing?
A: Yes. What makes Omaha unique, however, is that it is the first of its size to develop urban design guidelines for an entire city as well as having these guidelines reflected in its master plan and codified in its zoning regulations.
Q: Will I notice a difference in how Omaha looks?
A: Yes. Change is already occurring, as evidenced by the recent announcement of several major mixed used projects. This visual impact will continue to increase over time. In the words of Jonathan Barnett*, “When the work is done, new parks will have been created around the creek systems throughout the city; the main highways and streets across the city will be landscaped; stores, offices and apartments will be grouped around identifiable civic locations that have the presence of traditional downtowns; and each cluster of neighborhoods will have its own amenities and centers of civic life.”
*Jonathan Barnett, urban design principal with Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC (WRT), is the lead consultant on the Urban Design Element.
ObD 1/16/07
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