Rezoning Controversy

Some residents who live in southwood are worried their once safe and quiet neighborhood is in danger.

Scott Zager is spent his Sunday walking the streets of his neighborhood, handing out flyers.

“I care about my neighborhood. We have great neighbors.  this is a community you can't find everywhere in Lincoln and when you find something like that you have to hold onto it and keep it safe, Zager said.”

CVS pharmacy proposed building a store at 27th and old Cheney.

The county planning commission approved the rezoning from office to retail last month.

 If the rezoning gets approved, some residents are concerned that quiet neighborhood streets could turn into high traffic areas.

City council member Jonathon Cook told me he shares the neighborhood's concerns about the appropriateness of the development.

Zager says, there's plenty of other places CVS could go.

“There's no point in having this type of forced retail on a community when there's spaces specifically designed for it, but the infrastructure is there.  the roads are there.  everything is safe.  why are they not building there,” he said.

According to Mark Hunzeker an attorney for CVS, the retail store says the rezoning supports urbanism.

 “They want to be all over Lincoln they plan to spend a lot of money building 8 or 9 stores in Lincoln and this is one of the locations they've selected as a prospective site,” Hunzeker said.

The city council will have the final say on whether or not the space will be rezoned.

A public hearing on the issue is scheduled for November 15th and a potential vote is set for the November 22nd.