Property owners want to fight the city of Omaha to support post-tornado reconstruction

WATERLOO, Nebraska (WOWT) – Waterloo resident Kelli Armstrong lived on her rural property on West Dodge Road until it was destroyed by a tornado in April.

She wants to rebuild, but the city of Omaha has told her that this is not possible because her property is in a flood zone.

“You're trying to clean up after a tornado, and then you're battling with the city of Omaha's jurisdiction in an area that we don't think should be under their jurisdiction,” Armstrong said.

She said it's a battle she and a group of property owners will ultimately have to take to the city.

“Omaha has taken away all these regulations that they have made in their extraterritorial jurisdiction and has not allowed any of us landowners who are not allowed to vote for the City of Omaha to use them.

“They still want to collect taxes from our land, but their new regulations do not allow us to do anything with this land. We are not allowed to live on it, we are not allowed to build on it.”

She said they also have a problem with the fact that a construction project is planned less than a mile from their property, near the intersection of Highway 275 and Blondo Street.

According to FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer map, this area also falls within the flood risk zone, but is less at risk.

A separate topic is the valuation of your property.

Armstrong told 6 News that the value of her land dropped after the tornado, but she wants to lower it even further.

“I'm hoping to get them to set the value of the property at zero until we as a group can hire an attorney and get the city of Omaha to create fair and equitable regulations for the area affected by the flood zone and the destruction caused by the tornado,” she said.

She and other property owners said they would appear at a Douglas County Board of Equalization hearing on Tuesday to discuss their valuation.

6 News reached out to the Omaha Planning Department for comment but did not receive a response.

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