OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Neighbors who live on HWS Cleveland Boulevard across from Flanagan Lake tell us they they paid for their homes primarily for the lakeside views. Those views are now at risk, as Omaha's Boulevard Master Plan requires trees to be planted in front of their homes.
- Terri Tobin and Molly Anderson argue their section of H.W.S Cleveland Boulevard isn't a boulevard at all, rather a street that shares the name of the boulevard.
- “It’s a beautiful masterplan, it’s great, but like anything else it’s strictly guidelines. Trying to impose a standard that doesn’t really apply in an area in which it was never meant to be seems inappropriate.”
- It dates back to an agreement between the city and developers of Pier 15 at HWS Cleveland Boulevard in 2017.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Check out this view here. Taking a look at Flanagan Lake in northwest Omaha. An absolutely stunning view you can take in from the front deck. It’s why Terri Tobin bought this house. But now, this view is in jeopardy.
“That was our dream — to be able to retire here, sit here on our front porch, and just enjoy the beautiful view we have here,” Tobin said.
Tobin and her husband even paid extra to put in this window, along with the bonus suite upstairs, to take in the view indoors.
“We paid a larger amount for our lots than some of the other lots here in the addition just because of the lake view.”
But the views she and her neighbors paid for could be taken away.
“We learned a few months ago that the developers had signed an agreement with the city to add improvements to our street because it’s a boulevard,” she said.
Tobin says this agreement goes back to well before neighbors built here on HWS Cleveland Boulevard at Pier 15.
“And they had plans to put trees on both sides of the boulevard, which then is going to block all of our views,” Tobin said.
“When we found out someone was going to plant three trees in front of our house, it was like, excuse me? Why?” Neighbor Molly Anderson said.
It has to do with the Omaha's Boulevard Masterplan, based on well-known landscaping architect Horace Cleveland’s approach from the late 1800’s.
Anderson says she did a lot of research on Cleveland and he would not be in favor of this.
“When he developed the boulevard plan, it was for cities and urban and suburban areas in order to bring some of nature back," she said. "He was a preservationist."
Tobin added, “None of Cleveland Boulevard in any other part of the city has a lake in front of it.”
They technically live outside of Omaha city limits, but Flanagan Lake belongs to the city, and so does this decision. Most of their conversations have been with the city landscape architect because their SID Board says its hands are tied.
“We both invited him to come out to our home and sit on our porches, go up into our bonus rooms, look out on the lake — and he said, 'Oh I know where you live. I’ve seen it on a map.'"
Tobin says he told her they now plan to plants trees on only their side of the street.
The neighbors say that doesn’t fix the problem and just proves the plans can be adjusted.
“If they don’t have to plant trees on the other side of the street because its a guideline, why do they have to plant trees on this side of the street?” Anderson asked.
Tobin added, "In one of the articles that I found, it said they were to be put in before the house was even to be built.”
That was from the agreement back in 2017. Tobin says her and her husband were the first to buy a lot here in 2021.
But losing the views isn’t their only concern
“We have a lot of wind up here, we have an anemometer, we clocked 103mph this winter," Anderson explained. "So trees for us, would mean the possibility of projectiles or damage to our home.”
In fact – some of the neighbors to the north of their section are already having issues with trees planted in front of their homes. Tobin drove by and counted them.
“There’s only 15 still standing and 23 of them have already died and are gone.”
Both neighbors say they love the boulevard improvements to the north and south of them. We checked it out ourselves.
"It’s in a neighborhood and there’s trees on both sides, islands in the middle, roundabouts,” Tobin explained.
But they say their section – between Ida and Fort streets – should be exempt from the trees because it simply isn’t a boulevard. Rather, just a street that shares the name of the boulevard.
“It’s a beautiful masterplan, it’s great, but like anything else it’s strictly guidelines," Anderson said. "And trying to impose a standard that doesn’t really apply in an area in which it was never meant to be seems inappropriate.”
I called the city landscape architect. He says he doesn’t see a reason to make a change due to the requirements in the masterplan.
I then called a SID 585 board member who said the SID engineer went to the city to attempt to get the tree requirement waived for their subdistrict but was denied. The only thing the SID Board can vote on is what trees will be planted and by who.
