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Local business owners are joining together to form the Streetcar Impact Alliance in Omaha. The group held its first official meeting on Monday. Clark Ross, the owner of Mercury, formed the new alliance. He said businesses have been dealing with fallout from the streetcar construction for some time now, and they haven’t seen any movement or “received satisfactory answers” from the city.”Everybody I know in the neighborhood feels the exact same way, and I just. I just thought that the best thing we can do is get together and all move as a unit and maybe be a little bit louder so that City Hall has something to do about it,” Ross said.Streetcar Impact Alliance make demands to City Council regarding streetcar constructionDuring Monday’s meeting, the group voted on initiatives to present to the city. They decided on three. Direct mitigation grant fund: Create a cash grant program, not a loan, for businesses showing revenue lossTax abatements: A temporary pause on property, sales, restaurant taxes, etc. Create a validated construction parking program: Parking passes for employees and residents and options for customersWhat to know: Omaha businesses create Streetcar Impact AllianceSam Morley, the owner of the Reading Room, said parking is one of the biggest struggles for her business, and she’s even had an employee quit because of it. “When we first opened, all the parking and all of the lanes were available, so opening month was fantastic,” Morley said. “I think August is when the first kind of construction hits, August to October. They closed the lane. They hooded the parking spots. We saw, like, a 20% dip. Like, I know we don’t have year over year, but 20% when you’re trying to get your footing is major. I’ve had to scale back staffing. I had an employee quit because they couldn’t make it to the space because they took an Uber and Uber wouldn’t come here. They were constantly late and they just gave up.”Ross said they sent out a streetcar impact survey to businesses along the corridor. He said only 3 out of 100 responding businesses reported any sort of sales growth between 2024 and 2025. Ross said no business that is losing money can hold on for another two to three years without something changing. “It’s a huge bellwether for what’s going to happen to this neighborhood. You know, if this continues, businesses will continue to close, residents will continue to leave, and that streetcar will just be going through a graveyard at that point there. There’ll be nothing along that route that’ll be worth visiting,” Ross said. Ross said they will bring the three initiatives to the city on Tuesday. To get an updated look at the streetcar’s construction progress, click here. For now, the business owners said they are doing what they can to support one another, but they also need the support of the community. “Just support businesses. Come down here if you can. Mitigate the traffic and the construction,” Morley said. “Just help us through it, please.”Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
Local business owners are joining together to form the Streetcar Impact Alliance in Omaha. The group held its first official meeting on Monday.
Clark Ross, the owner of Mercury, formed the new alliance. He said businesses have been dealing with fallout from the streetcar construction for some time now, and they haven’t seen any movement or “received satisfactory answers” from the city.
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“Everybody I know in the neighborhood feels the exact same way, and I just. I just thought that the best thing we can do is get together and all move as a unit and maybe be a little bit louder so that City Hall has something to do about it,” Ross said.
Streetcar Impact Alliance make demands to City Council regarding streetcar construction
During Monday’s meeting, the group voted on initiatives to present to the city. They decided on three.
- Direct mitigation grant fund: Create a cash grant program, not a loan, for businesses showing revenue loss
- Tax abatements: A temporary pause on property, sales, restaurant taxes, etc.
- Create a validated construction parking program: Parking passes for employees and residents and options for customers
What to know: Omaha businesses create Streetcar Impact Alliance
Sam Morley, the owner of the Reading Room, said parking is one of the biggest struggles for her business, and she’s even had an employee quit because of it.
“When we first opened, all the parking and all of the lanes were available, so opening month was fantastic,” Morley said. “I think August is when the first kind of construction hits, August to October. They closed the lane. They hooded the parking spots. We saw, like, a 20% dip. Like, I know we don’t have year over year, but 20% when you’re trying to get your footing is major. I’ve had to scale back staffing. I had an employee quit because they couldn’t make it to the space because they took an Uber and Uber wouldn’t come here. They were constantly late and they just gave up.”
Ross said they sent out a streetcar impact survey to businesses along the corridor. He said only 3 out of 100 responding businesses reported any sort of sales growth between 2024 and 2025.
Ross said no business that is losing money can hold on for another two to three years without something changing.
“It’s a huge bellwether for what’s going to happen to this neighborhood. You know, if this continues, businesses will continue to close, residents will continue to leave, and that streetcar will just be going through a graveyard at that point there. There’ll be nothing along that route that’ll be worth visiting,” Ross said.
Ross said they will bring the three initiatives to the city on Tuesday.
To get an updated look at the streetcar’s construction progress, click here.
For now, the business owners said they are doing what they can to support one another, but they also need the support of the community.
“Just support businesses. Come down here if you can. Mitigate the traffic and the construction,” Morley said. “Just help us through it, please.”
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
