Co-directors facilitate planning for Heartland Center´s hometown

The Heartland Center has completed an eight-month project to develop planning guidelines for the eventual expansion of the City of Lincoln by nearly double its current size. The focus of the study was a 52-square-mile area known as the Stevens Creek Basin, located just to the east of the present city limits of Nebraska´s capital city, home of the Heartland Center. The study was a subset of a process to rewrite the comprehensive plan for Lincoln and Lancaster County, population 250,000.

The Heartland Center´s co-directors facilitated a 17-member citizens task force, which was charged with developing planning guidelines for the Stevens Creek Basin. The guidelines were organized by themes, ranging from Urbanization to Parks and Recreation. Within each theme area, the guidelines described the "current" situation and then projected both the preferred "transition" and "future" situation.

Guidelines generally recommended gradual urbanization of the western portion of the basin, with the eastern portion designated as an "urban reserve." The task force also put a high priority on protecting natural and cultural resources, and it projected that nontraditional agricultural uses on small parcels might replace traditional row crop farming or livestock operations.

Task force members worked in subgroups to draft the guidelines, then reviewed them in detail as a committee of the whole. They also heard presentations on key topics related to development of the basin from experts in urban growth, transportation, flood control, utility development and construction.

"The facilitation by Heartland Center staff was first-class. They were able to manage a process that worked through an extremely complex set of data, a variety of public policy considerations, and diverse viewpoints among task force members."

Kent Morgan, Assistant director of planning
for Lincoln and Lancaster County

One task force member wrote afterwards to say, "Thanks for all your hard work on the Stevens Creek Task Force Process. You did a great job of moving things along, were patient, and the situation never got terribly contentious. I think the end result is great." Another task force member wrote, "Before (Vicki Luther and Milan Wall) got involved we had a hard time getting started. You had a difficult job and I appreciate all your efforts."

The Stevens Creek Basin is mainly agricultural today, with several acreage developments, two small villages and a smattering of commercial and light industry. For years, the area had been considered a potential area for urbanization at some time in the future, but planning was held off while the city grew in other directions.

The task force met approximately every two weeks during the process, and meetings were facilitated by Heartland Center Co-directors Vicki Luther and Milan Wall, with assistance from Reggi Carlson, development specialist.