KEARNEY — The question of water drainage was raised while the Kearney Planning Commission was discussing a subdivision southeast of Kearney during their meeting on Friday, Aug. 18.
The planning commission held a hearing for a rezone, preliminary plat and final plat for Petersen Estates, a subdivision that is a quarter mile north of 11th Street and on the west side of Sweetwater Avenue.
The application had been submitted by Trenton Snow, surveyor for the property owner, Joshua Petersen.
Snow appeared at the meeting and said the intention on the property is to create four lots to allow for housing development. The area would need to be rezoned from agriculture to rural residential.
A road will be created to access the properties, Snow said for the first three years, the developer will need to maintain the road at their expense, then for two years Buffalo County will maintain while the developer supplies gravel.
After the five-year period, the county would fully incorporate the road.
During discussion about the items, Lamont Sever, who lives on the east side of Sweetwater Ave., across from the proposed development, appeared with concerns.
Sever said the area is in a lowland and is not fully a flood plain, but could be considered a wetland, water which drains south toward the Platte River.
Having lived in the area since 2004, Sever said he has seen water on the property in question even prior to the July 2019 flooding event.
After the flood, Sever said his neighbors had three to four feet of water in their basements and, “caused havoc.”
As a property owner in the area, Sever expressed concerns about moving dirt in to develop this area that has been water logged in the past. He said the water will have to go somewhere, likely to the neighboring properties.
Sever said he and especially his neighbors stand to lose out if there is flooding from the property.
He told the planning commission that if development jeopardizes life or property, then it is important for them to decide what and what not to allow.
Melissa Dougherty-O’Hara, Kearney City Planner, said there are ways to deal with water drainage in the permit process. She noted that a new development cannot increase the amount of natural drainage that is already occurring.
Sever also raised questions about the road that will be built to access the property and now drainage would be handled around this feature.
Snow commented and said the road would be regulated by the county and they will be a part of the design phase but won’t be financially responsible for the first three years.
Dave Malone, Planning Commission Board Member, questioned if a property is not considered adaptable for a project, is it the planning commission’s responsibility to recommend denial to the city council.
Dougherty-O’Hara said there was no definition for “adaptability,” in their code.
Another planning commission member noted that a project might check off all the boxes when it comes to requirements, but a board member may still have reservations and could cast their vote respectively.
Motions to recommend approval of the rezone, preliminary plat and final plat were approved, with the sole dissenting vote coming from Malone in each case.
When asked after the meeting about his vote, Malone said the potential for drainage issues in the area gave him pause and left questions to be answered.
The next item was a conditional use permit submitted by Buffalo Surveying Corporation for Kenneth Richter for a resource extraction site west and south of 7310 2nd Ave.
It was noted resource extraction had taken place without a permit and Richter seeking this permit was to rectify the situation. He had been under the impression that a previous permit still covered the extraction.
The permit was for five years and there is no stockpiling on the site, with materials being excavated, processed and hauled off site.
The planning commission voted to recommend approval of the permit.
The last item was an easement vacation submitted by Miller & Associates for the Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA).
Dougherty-O’Hara said MONA had brought up vacating the alley on the north side of the building before their expansion, but an easement had been left in place due to utilities that needed to be removed.
All utilities have now been removed, allowing for the easement to be vacated as well. The planning commission recommended approval.
