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Billionaire Walter Scott is once again proposing the closure of the Rainwood Rd entrance to Cunningham Lake in north Omaha and is attempting to buy the property which the road is on. (Omaha World Herald article copied below). Many horse enthusiasts use this entrance to access the lake trails on a regular basis. Benefit rides are staged at this location, numerous times throughout each summer riding season.
If you use this entrance to Cunningham Lake and would like to assist with the effort to keep this lake entrance open, please consider contacting one of the Omaha City Council Members listed below. Contacting is critical as the issue is scheduled for the Tuesday, January 10th agenda. Email addresses of the City Council members are shown below, as well. I am told there will also be representation from the Nebraska Horse Trails Committee at the Council meeting.
Many of you may believe the horse trails can be accessed from other locations. You are correct. I think many of you access via the Hwy north of the lake. However, this staging area is used by several horse groups fund raising organizations. The Crescent Outlaws use it for the American Cancer Society Ride and HETRA uses it for their annual benefit ride, to name a few.
We must preserve what access we have. We can’t let it slowly be taken away from us. Read the article closely. Once again, whether you live in Omaha or not, let your voice be heard in support of horses and horse trail riding in our city & in our state.
Tammy
Omaha City Council Members
City of Omaha Website: www.ci.omaha.ne.us
Marc Kraft District 1
1819 Farnam Street, LC-1
Omaha, NE 68183
(402)4 444-5527
Frank Brown District 2
1819 Farnam Street, LC-1
Omaha, NE 68183
(402) 444-5524
James Vokal, Jr. District 3
1819 Farnam Street, LC-1
Omaha, NE 68183
(402)444-5525
Garry Gernandt District 4
1918 Farnam Street, LC-1
Omaha, NE 68183
(402) 444-5522
Dan Welch District 5
1819 Farnam Street, LC-1
Omaha, NE 68183
(402) 444-5528
Franklin Thompson
District 6
1819 Farnam Street, LC-1
Omaha, NE 68183
(402) 444-5523
Chuck Sigerson, Jr.
District 7
1819 Farnam Street, LC-1
Omaha, NE 68183
(402) 444-5526
Published Thursday
January 5, 2006
City to address closure of park road
BY RICK RUGGLES
<<Picture (Metafile)
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
The battle for Rainwood Road resumes Tuesday.
Billionaire Walter Scott's Centennial Farms LLC again has proposed that
a 2,243-foot stretch of the road be closed where it enters Cunningham
Lake Park's east side. Scott and relatives live in three huge houses in
the general vicinity of the street, which leads to a crumbling access
road, playground equipment and a picnic area near the lake. The Lake
Cunningham Hills Neighborhood Association has distributed fliers in the
area encouraging people to "keep this great lake public, with access
where it's always been." The issue pits a vocal middle-class
neighborhood against the desires of one of Omaha's richest families.
The proposal, initially presented in 2003, was voted down by neighbors
and others who wanted to keep the Rainwood Road access open. Before the
vote, Scott offered $1 million to build an improved trail around the
lake in exchange for the road closure.
Those who attended the public meeting on the matter and voted it down
were told by Omaha Parks Director Larry Foster that their vote most
likely was final.
But the proposal has resurfaced (minus the $1 million contribution),
this time as a resolution on Tuesday's Omaha City Council agenda. If the
council approves, it would then go to the Douglas County Board. The
county owns the road, but it falls within the city's zoning jurisdiction.
Rainwood Road provides one of 10 access points to the park, Foster has
said. Closing the road would close the access area.
The City Planning Board endorsed closure of the road last February.
Those who favor that course of action say, among other things, that the
access road connecting with Rainwood Road is so dilapidated there is no
harm in starting over in a different place. Loud, disruptive parties
occur in that access area, they say.
David Stover, president of the Lake Cunningham Hills Neighborhood
Association, does not agree with the proposal. "It's nice that he has
made that much money and has that much money," Stover said of Scott.
"But that lake was there before he was."
John Boyer, Centennial Farms' attorney, could not be reached for comment
on Wednesday. But his secretary faxed a statement, signed by "Centennial
Farms LLC," saying the playground and picnic facilities "would be
relocated to other areas of the park. Once the Lake Cunningham park
improvements are completed, Rainwood Road west of 84th Street would not
be necessary."
The statement said Centennial Farms would pay fair-market value for the
vacated road property.
Carole Larson, outgoing conservation chairwoman of the Sierra Club's
Missouri Valley group, said many fishermen, windsurfers and horseback
riders get to the lake by that access point.
Omaha Councilman Jim Suttle, who favors closing the road, said the
conflict between the neighborhood and the Scotts is unnecessary.
Suttle said he, the Parks Department and others envision a
multimillion-dollar renovation of Cunningham Lake Park. Suttle said U.S.
Rep. Lee Terry of Omaha will seek federal money to extend the Keystone
Trail north more than two miles, from about 90th and Fort Streets, all
the way around Cunningham Lake.
Money from other sources will be found, Suttle said, to improve
restrooms, playgrounds, picnic areas and parking. Access areas will
change with the improvements, and access from Rainwood Road will become
irrelevant, he said.
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