*Editorâs Note: Mike Brownlee is a member of the Council Bluffs YMCA advisory board.
Monday night, the Council Bluffs City Council voted against a trio of requests by the YMCA that wouldâve seen the city vacate Baughn Street, amend the cityâs comprehensive plan and rezone Y-owned land as part of the nonprofit organizationâs plan to install a park and increase parking.
The YMCA of Greater Omaha had requested the city, through an ordinance, rezone the land southwest of the Charles E. Lakin YMCA at 235 Harmony St. from from residential to administrative-professional district, while also passing a resolution vacating and disposing of Baughn Street, which connects Harmony Street and Kanesville Boulevard. The city would retain an easement for utility maintenance on the Baughn Street land, according to Council Bluffs Planning and Zoning. Another resolution wouldâve amended the cityâs Bluffs Tomorrow: 2030 Plan, changing the adjacent land from low-density residential to local commercial.