Papillion mayor imposing standards

[Coyote]

Design standards create boulevard

If you take a drive out to Walnut Creek Lake, you won't hit many rock roads anymore.

In fact, if you drive Schram Road east of the 105-acre Papillion lake, you'll find that between 90th and 96th Streets it turns into a spacious boulevard that's lined with black antique streetlights.

It's lined by a 10-foot-wide concrete hiking and biking trail and a wrought-iron fence with post caps shaped like butterflies.

This road is going from rock to rockin'.

"At night, it gives off a bright glow, without being glaring," said Eric Hughes, a resident of Summit Ridge housing development that abuts the boulevard. "We'll see this summer if they attract bugs."

Creating the boulevard was Papillion Mayor James Blinn's first try at imposing strict design standards on real estate developers - something he said he wants throughout the city.

The boulevard glitz is all paid for by the developers of properties lying adjacent to it or passed on when people buy homes in them, Blinn said.

Developers resisted at first, he said.

"After that, it was development after development after development that wanted to be out there," Blinn said.

On almost any day now, the rumble of bulldozers and the pop of nail guns can be heard from the boulevard as new homes go up all around.

Papillion City Councilman Steve Engberg said the boulevard is an effort to set high design standards not just for housing developments but also for the roads leading into them.

It was also a move toward consistency, rather than having one development with a plastic fence, the next with wrought iron and the next brick pedestals and wood, Engberg said.

"There's kind of a retro, 'let's go back in time' feel to things, a little bit," he said. "Rather than just putting up aluminum poles with mercury vapor lights, let's do something unique that people go away from saying, 'Yeah, that's a nice area.'"

Neil Smith, the chief marketing officer for Hearthstone Homes, said the closest thing he has seen to the boulevard concept would be Regency Parkway in Omaha.

Hearthstone Homes is developing Summit Ridge on the south side of the boulevard, east of 96th Street, with homes from about $150,000 to the low $200,000s.

The boulevard is most fully developed between 90th and 96th Streets, though the butterfly fencing - a nod to the city's namesake - already extends several blocks west of there, nearly to the lake entrance.

The landscaped portions of the boulevard are still just dirt. But this spring, spruce, honey locust and flowering crabapple trees, along with shrubs and flowers, will be planted, following the design of a professional landscaper.

Smith credits Papillion leaders for having a clear vision and applying the same upscale design standards to each developer moving in.

"Our customers certainly see the difference," he said.

Bill Torczon, who is developing Savanna Shores west of 96th Street and south of the boulevard, said Papillion officials are sticklers for design standards.

Torczon is opening his first model home in a few weeks at Savanna Shores, which will have 175 single-family homes and 34 townhomes starting around $250,000.

He said the boulevard is "fantastic," uniting the area and giving it a feeling of class.

Blinn said the boulevard will be extended as far as developers are willing to buy into the concept.

Plans call for eventually extending it east to 72nd Street, where the Papillion Promenade shopping center and Shadow Lake housing developments are proposed. The extension would take place as new projects come in.

Along the completed section, the boulevard lanes meander slightly rather than running straight as an arrow, like most county roads.

Hughes said that causes some confusion for drivers, and he hopes the city will re-examine the traffic flow.



A wrought-iron fence adorned with a butterfly frames the entrance to Walnut Creek Hills, part of Papillion's design standards for development.

[DTO Luv]

At least other places besides Omaha are giving thought to what they will look like.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I went down there to look at it today. It looks pretty cool and they should build all of their residential streets like that. The architecture of the Hearthstone homes contained within the iron-rod are a different story, however...for the Summit Pointe development at least. They're too boxy, especially in the back, and need a lot more trees.

[RockHarbor]

I'm so excited!!! Omaha and its suburbs are really doing things RIGHT! Local designers are realizing how trendy & stylish Omaha can look if they just design things with "ultimate style" in mind. I think the importance of good interior and exterior design has become so much more important everywhere in the USA (look at all the design shows on TV), and Omaha has made sure to "jump on the bandwagon" with everyone else. I was so happy to read this article.

This reminds me: Tonight, I was out at 180th and Center, and was excited to see all the neat stores/restaurants built in this area, and most of them have great, stylish facades. My Mom was like "I love this area of Omaha." It really does look nice. You can see such a difference in style, in each decade, if you just drive west on Center. You can see the 1960's at 120th, the 70's at 132nd, the 80's at 144th, the 90's at 168th, and the current era near 180th.

[jsheets]

I'm glad to see this article, as we are planning to move to the Walnut Creek area later this year!