Residents of the Sunset Valley neighborhood near 93rd and Arbor sounded off at Tuesday's Omaha City Council Meeting about plans to develop the former Sunset Hills golf course. It was recently closed and the land sold to NP Dodge.
“There are 37 single-family lots with 210 apartments,” developer Nate Dodge told the Council. “We're working on dedicated walkways from the neighborhood to the schools.”
Residents are concerned about the loss of green space. They want the former golf course to have a park and barrier free playground. Developers say 60 percent of the area will remain a green space.
Some neighbors are also concerned because they say the land falls within a flood plain along the Big Papio Creek. Sheila Karpf says the added car traffic from the complex would also put their neighborhood at risk.
"It'll increase average daily traffic trips in the neighborhood of 2,000. So 2,000 a day additional trips of vehicles when our streets only currently have around 260-600/700 trips per day, so we're looking at at least tripling or quadrupling traffic," Karpf said.
Despite all the arguments, council unanimously voted to move on with the plans. Councilman Chris Jerram, though, did tell NP Dodge he wants a full traffic and storm drain study done the next time they are to speak to the council.
It could be several months before the final plat is presented to the Council