Vacant parking lot proves eyesore for Omaha neighborhood

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - An eyesore just north of Midtown Omaha has grown worse since the storm last week; but, neighbors are concerned now more than ever.

Several well-kept properties are one reason Katy Doyle likes walking in her Walnut Hill neighborhood, until she gets to this corner.

“The locals in this neighborhood I know people are very proud of where they live, And proud of this community,” Doyle said. “I feel like people have now just seen this as a dumping site and if they have something in the back of their pickup, they leave it here.”

It’s the parking lot of a vacant apartment building, at least neighbors thought it was supposed to be uninhabited.

“There’s a light on up there, which means someone is paying the bills, and no one is taking accountability for what’s happening on the outside,” Doyle said.

The assessor’s site shows the building owned by a Colorado investment company. The city has sent a violation, and cleanup notes goes past due Friday. If ignored, then normally weeds and litter would do the job and bull the owner, but that could be a while. City crews are concentrating on storm damage.

Doyle says this eyesore is only growing worse since the windstorm. Instead of going to one of the city’s drop-off sites, someone has decided just to dump their debris right here.

Neighbors hope the midtown mess will be addressed soon.

”Cleaned up the debris all over the parking lot,” Neighbor Linda Noland said. “It’s been that way for months.”

If not by the property owner, then the city when storm cleanup is complete enough to move the eyesore back on top of a priority list.

Omaha’s chief field inspectors says the city cleaned the site once before, but had to leave the big red dumpster until he can determine who owns it. Unfortunately, that dumpster is full again and the mess has spilled over.

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