§ 90-303. Nebraska State Capitol Environs District; maximum height restrictions; enforcement; exemptions; city of Lincoln; powers and duties.

(1) The maximum height of any buildings and structures built after March 8, 1977, shall be restricted as follows: (a) The maximum height of buildings and structures shall be forty-five feet or National Geodetic Survey elevation 1235.0 feet, whichever is lower, within an area bounded on the west by Seventeenth Street, on the north by K Street, on the east by a boundary formed by a line extending in a true south direction as an extension of the east property line of Twenty-fourth Street, and on the south by a boundary formed by a line extending directly in a true east direction to the east property line of Twenty-fourth Street from the centerpoint of the intersection of Seventeenth and H Streets, all streets in the city of Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska; (b) The maximum height of buildings and structures shall be forty-five feet or National Geodetic Survey elevation 1235.0 feet, whichever is lower, within an area bounded on the west by Fourteenth Street, on the north by G Street, on the east by Sixteenth Street, and on the south by Washington Street, all streets in the city of Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska; (c) The maximum height of the buildings and structures shall be fifty-seven feet or National Geodetic Survey elevation 1247.0 feet, whichever is lower, within an area bounded on the west by Thirteenth Street, on the north by L Street, on the east by Seventeenth Street, and on the south by G Street, all streets in the city of Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska; (d) The maximum height of the buildings and structures shall be fifty-seven feet or National Geodetic Survey elevation 1247.0 feet, whichever is lower, within an area bounded on the west by Fourteenth Street, on the north by S Street, on the east by Sixteenth Street, and on the south by L Street, all streets in the city of Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska; and (e) The maximum height of the buildings and structures shall be fifty-seven feet or National Geodetic Survey elevation 1247.0 feet, whichever is lower, within an area bounded on the west by Fifth Street, on the north by K Street, on the east by Thirteenth Street, and on the south by H Street, all streets in the city of Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska. (2) For the purposes of the Nebraska State Capitol Environs Act, the areas and the full width of the right-of-way boundary streets described in subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall together constitute and be defined as the Nebraska State Capitol Environs District. (3) Design approval shall be required for all aboveground utility, construction, and landscape improvements in the public right-of-way bounded on the north and south by the property lines of J Street, on the west by a boundary formed by a line extending in a true south direction as an extension of the east property line of Twenty-fourth Street, and on the east by a line extending in a true north direction as an extension of the east property line of Thirty-fifth Street. (4) The city of Lincoln shall insure, through its inspection and permit procedures, that the maximum height restrictions and design review process prescribed by this section for the Nebraska State Capitol Environs District are enforced. (5) The height restrictions and design review process required by this section shall apply, within the Nebraska State Capitol Environs District, to all real estate in private or quasi-public ownership and to real estate owned by the State of Nebraska and local governmental units of all types. (6) The following appurtenances shall be exempt from the height restrictions required by this section, but such appurtenances shall not exceed twenty feet in height above the maximum height permitted in subsection (1) of this section and shall be set back a minimum of fifteen feet from all faces of a building when such faces are adjacent to a street: Church spires, cooling towers with approved screening, elevator bulkheads, fire towers, monuments, stage towers or scenery lofts, ornamental towers, and spires. (7) Nothing in the act shall be construed as limiting the authority of the city of Lincoln to impose lower height restrictions than those maximum height limits established by subsection (1) of this section or in establishing lower height restrictions for appurtenances than those required by subsection (6) of this section. (8) The city of Lincoln shall review and approve or disapprove plans and proposals for demolition, exterior alteration, and construction of structures and other improvements in the Nebraska State Capitol Environs District. The city of Lincoln shall adopt regulations within its zoning code vesting responsibility for review, approval, and disapproval of projects with the Nebraska State Capitol Environs Commission established by the city of Lincoln. (9) The regulations of the city of Lincoln for design review in the Nebraska State Capitol Environs District shall emphasize the long-term enhancement of the State Capitol's setting and of enjoyment of the State Capitol by the citizens while respecting the interests of property owners, including economic interests and the desirability of predictable, expeditious review. History: Laws 1977, LB 172, § 3; Laws 1993, LB 271, § 3; Laws 2002, LB 729, § 13; Laws 2009, LB450, § 1.