Master Plan Elements

The Concept Element provides a broad vision for Omaha’s future and a comprehensive package of goals, policies and standards needed to carry out the vision.

These more detailed issues are addressed by "element" plans which deal with more specific functional and geographic areas of interest. The functional components include such traditional elements as:

• Environment
• Urban Development
• Land Use
• Transportation
• Parks and Recreation
• Housing and Community Development among others

Subsequent components of the Master Plan may include elements on Urban Design, as well as geographic components comprising district and area development and redevelopment plans for portions of the city such as Downtown and the city’s riverfront.

These detailed element plans are intended to be used together with the Concept Element to guide the growth and redevelopment of the city. Even though these plans are often large in scope and detailed in nature, they all depend on the Concept Element to provide their direction and focus.

The Environment Element sets out a vision for the long-term environmental health and sustainability of the Omaha community and the natural resources and ecosystems on which it depends. The plan was developed through a community-based process called Environment Omaha and is organized by five broad topics: Natural Environments; Urban Form and Transportation;Building Construction; Resource Conservation; and Community Health.

The Public Facilities Element serves as a long term guide for the development of public facilities usually not addressed in other comprehensive plan elements. This plan focuses on important support facilities which form the foundation for city services that are critical to almost every aspect of public health, safety, and welfare.

The Housing Element is the culmination of a process which attempts to identify in general terms what the residents of Omaha want. It describes what approaches would be suitable to meet neighborhood needs, and delineates appropriate initiatives given the extent of the problem and the level of City support.

The Transportation Element addresses the problems of increased traffic congestion and dependence on the automobile. It creates a new transportation system that will incorporate the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users while continuing to accommodate the auto. It calls for a more efficient street layout and reduce constraints on mass transit in developing areas.

The Future Land Use Element guides the physical development of the city. It outlines general policies for the location of each of the city’s primary land uses such as industry, offices, commercial space, parks, civic facilities, and housing. One of the main purposes for directing the pattern of land development is to ensure that the city’s limited resources are used judiciously and efficiently.

One hundred years ago, H.W.S. Cleveland, hired by the Parks Board to prepare Omaha’s first Parks Plan, wrote that no other investment “...contributes equally to impress strangers with the idea of civic grandeur as such liberal provision [of parks and boulevards] for the health, comfort and gratification of residents and visitors alike.” Many of the issues emphasized by Cleveland in 1889 are reaffirmed a century later in this Parks Master Plan Element.

The Urban Development Element, in combination with the Concept Element of the City’s Master Plan, establishes a sound management system designed to achieve greater economy in the growth cycle. The system is intended to encourage the continued development of high quality suburban areas while preserving and redevel­oping our existing neighborhoods by providing City government with a more orderly method of allocating its limited capital resources.