Message from NSNA President Vish Reddi
Dear Members of the NSNA,
The Near South Neighborhood Association is celebrating its 50th anniversary. It was formed in 1972 by a group of concerned neighbors whereby boundaries were created, a board of directors was elected, and articles of association were adopted that empowered and tasked the board to:
keep the neighborhood informed about zoning changes
preserve the density and improve the character of the neighborhood
reduce vehicular congestion at commercial levels in a residential neighborhood
work with the various City departments in an effort to preserve the history of our community
All this has been done, for the last 50 years, to improve the quality of life and encourage neighborhood pride. Indeed, we are proud of our neighborhood and its diverse uses and purposes. Recently it was brought to our attention that some investors are purchasing properties here in town, and in our neighborhood, to operate sober living homes. Now, before you pick a side based on your past experiences, I humbly ask you to read on with an open mind.
I truly believe that group homes, sober living homes, apartments, duplexes, single family homes, etc. are all required to balance a neighborhood. Keyword: balance. Some of these are high intensity uses and infrastructure issues such as sewer, parking flow, and safety need to be considered when allowing such facilities to plant roots in our historic neighborhood. Careful planning and great care need to be taken in order to analyze the strength of and impact on the infrastructure. The primary goal of our zoning efforts, approximately 20 years ago, recognized these infrastructural issues and promoted de-zoning certain parts of the neighborhood to allow for balance.
When there is a concentration of these kinds of intense uses in one location, less than 0.5 mile radius from each other (which is the municipal ordinance), and in homes and infrastructure not originally designed for these purposes, there is a long-term negative impact. When an area that is zoned for R1/R2 suddenly has 14-20 people living in a single-family dwelling, this impacts the sewer, roads, traffic, and safety of all on that block. How often does our infrastructure get improved? Not too often. How long before it starts to break if we keep adding such intense density? Not very long.
We have some awesome group homes in the neighborhood that do a great service for their residents and adhere to city zoning laws regarding group homes. There are some, however, that choose to not follow the laws and operate with no oversight or regulation. They operate without informing anyone and continue to operate while their applications are being processed, expecting the City of Lincoln to adopt the use they have already implemented, instead of complying with the regulations our city has in place for the benefit of both the group homes and the neighborhoods where they operate. I believe this behavior should not be ignored, let alone rewarded.
The owners of these properties claim altruistic purposes; that they operate these facilities out of the nobility of their character. Upon researching the matter, I discovered that these owners have no such interests in their own neighborhoods. They target our neighborhood with one simple goal: making money at our expense. This begs the question: Why not create these environments in the blocks that they live in? I think it would be much easier to manage when you are in proximity. The answer: they don’t want it in their backyard, they want it in ours.
Infrastructure and politics aside, this creates a real issue for the fabric of our neighborhood. Our neighborhood, just like other neighborhoods in the heart of Lincoln, takes pride our schools, our libraries, our public pools parks — we as individuals take pride in the care of our own properties, providing a foundation for all residents to enjoy a high quality of life. When new families wanting to move into these single family homes are outbid by commercial enterprises that disguise themselves as “a noble cause,” affordable housing for new families takes an enormous hit. Given time, this will have a ripple effect of fewer students going to the schools in this neighborhood, fewer young generations visiting libraries and parks, and diminishing investment by homeowners in a neighborhood that is intended, according to the City’s own land use plans, to support and encourage stable, high-quality life for families.
As I close this letter, I humbly ask you to do your own research and form your own opinions, all while keeping the greater good and our future generations in mind. I truly believe that the next generation is going to build it better than we have, and I want to do whatever possible to give them a head start in the right direction.
Now to end on a positive note: After raising $40,000 for improvements in Breta and Near South Parks, NSNA is again doing its part to help by raising $22,000 (so far) toward improvements planned at Peach Park with a goal to raise more. These funds will help supplement the City funds to bring a safer, updated place of play and discovery for the next generation of Near South residents.
-Vish Reddi, NSNA President, vish.reddi@nearsouth.org