Omaha Considers Allowing Expropriation for Streetcar

City officials have said they will need to take possession of only small portions of private property along the planned streetcar route, mostly for temporary use while the line is being built. The city has no plans to acquire buildings or entire parcels of land, Mayor Jean Stothert and Public Works Director Bob Stubbe said. They also don’t expect to have to use the city’s expropriation power, but allowing it is a necessary step.

The ordinance is on the City Council agenda for a vote Tuesday. Despite the public’s strong interest in Omaha’s streetcar project and the authority the ordinance would give the city, there has been little discussion about the particular measure.

No one spoke at the City Council’s June public hearing on the ordinance. It is currently listed in a group of items on Tuesday’s consent agenda, meaning the council could approve the items together without discussion.

Expropriation for public utility allows the city to take the land it needs from private owners through a process that includes paying them a fair price set by independent appraisers.

“Quite frankly, although this is our standard language, I’m not sure there is any intention to use expropriation, if necessary,” said deputy city prosecutor Bernard in den Bosch. “But it is obviously allowed.”

The city routinely adopts an “ordinance of necessity” for public works projects such as street widening. Stubbe said this is necessary so the public works department can begin negotiating with landowners. The tracks will be on existing public property. But some of the streetcar line’s companion pieces could be on currently private property.

“We don’t acquire entire parcels of land,” said Stubbe, who is also vice chairman of the Omaha Streetcar Authority. “Typically, it’s small parcels of land. And it may just be an easement that’s needed for building purposes rather than an actual acquisition.”

In an interview, Stothert said the city would “absolutely” not use that authority to acquire buildings or entire properties.

“This is our plan and we are sticking to it,” she said.

The ordinance states “the need to acquire, for the use of the City of Omaha, private property necessary for the purposes of the Omaha Streetcar Project.” It would authorize the Department of Public Works to negotiate with landowners to purchase properties or obtain easements, for which the city would pay for the right to use the property temporarily during construction, or permanently after the streetcar line is built. If negotiations fail to produce an agreement, the city could use its expropriation power to obtain the properties it needs.

“We are constantly negotiating with landowners about building easements and acquisitions,” Stubbe said. “It’s a common practice.”

The city rarely uses expropriation for street projects, Stubbe said, and he doesn’t expect it to be necessary for streetcar construction.

The ordinance does not specify where the city needs land. Stubbe said project engineers have not yet determined all the specific locations.

“It’s possible that the locations will be at (streetcar) stops,” Stubbe said. Construction crews may need to use private property to build a stop.

“We also have several locations where electrical systems will be installed along the corridor,” he said.

A plan titled “Order of Necessity Boundaries” attached to the order shows what the document calls “adjacent properties for which land acquisitions, permanent easements and temporary construction easements will be necessary to complete this project.”

This map features shading along the planned route of the streetcar, which will run on Farnam Street from Eighth Street in downtown Omaha to 39th Street in the Blackstone neighborhood, and on Harney Street from Turner Boulevard to downtown. The shading covers several parcels in their entirety.

When asked why the shading on the map covers entire parcels when the city only needs a few parcels, Stubbe replied: “It’s just a general exposure.”

The First Unitarian Church of Omaha, 3114 Harney Street, and Sullivan’s Bar, at 40th and Farnam Streets, are among the locations covered by the flat plane’s shading.

Some time ago, city officials had spoken to First Unitarian officials about the possibility of needing some of the church’s property. As of Thursday, First Unitarian had not heard from the city again and was not informed of the ordinance until a reporter knocked on the church’s door seeking comment. By Friday, however, church leaders knew more. The church received a letter in the mail Friday outlining what the city was interested in, said First Unitarian board member Kim Dunovan.

The letter comes from a private company that has contracted with the city to conduct assessments on various properties that will be affected by the project. The city is interested in a temporary easement on 69 square feet of land behind the church. The letter states that an assessment will be conducted to determine compensation.

“We don’t know exactly what the 69 square feet will be used for, but it’s very, very small,” Dunovan said. “We’ll be following up, but it’s been a big relief for us.”

Dan Houlihan, owner of Sullivan’s Bar, said Thursday he hasn’t heard anything from the city about what might happen to his street corner and whether the city wants to use any of his property.

“I know it’s going to happen,” he said of the streetcar construction. “I know there’s going to be construction issues, barricades, street cleanups and things like that. I just hope they use common sense and think hard enough to make sure the companies have as little time as possible for the work.”

Stothert said the order is simply intended to “get everyone to the table.”

“There’s a whole process to compensate the property owners for the inconvenience that they’ve suffered,” she said. “Once they (the project engineers) figure out how much of the property they might need for a temporary easement, they bring in an appraiser who gives an estimate and says how much you should compensate these people for because of this property that they’re going to be using temporarily. Then we contact each of those property owners and tell them what we’re planning to do, and whether that’s going to be okay with them for compensation… And if they say, ‘No, I want more money,’ then we negotiate with them further.”