City seeks to use eminent domain to seize land earmarked for north Omaha industrial park
“A city petition filed this week in Douglas County seeks to condemn roughly 70 acres of concrete rubble, overgrowth and dirt. It is wedged between a Carter Lake golf course and some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods.
The lawsuit names Virgil Anderson, head of Anderson Excavating Co., and his wife, Virginia, as owners of most of the property, though it also cites several estates, a Canadian railroad company and one of Anderson’s longtime business partners as entities that have a potential interest in the property.
Former Mayor Jim Suttle wanted to redevelop the site into the Ames-Locust Industrial Park to create a potential job magnet for the area.
The impasse prompted the council to delay approving a redevelopment plan that would authorize tax incentives for the property and to authorize the government to use eminent domain to acquire the site.”
Perez Jr., Juan. Omaha 21 JUne 2013.