Valley community speaks out about RV park plan at council meeting

VALLEY, Neb. (WOWT) - Along a little slice of Platte Riverfront heaven, one man has a dream.

“It’s a dream of mine but also I want to share this dream, it’s a property that’s been owned by one man for 40 some years, and it looks like a state park, it’s well manicured, well cared for, and it’s behind gates, and when I saw it I thought this was the perfect opportunity to kind of share it with the community,” said Brad Brown, Platte River Resort, LLC Developer.

But many in the community see it differently.

The sidewalks of downtown Valley are not normally this crowded on an early Tuesday night as the city council considered a conditional use permit for Brad Brown’s Platte River Resort RV park.

“There appears to be a very strong vocal, substantial number of members in this community that are not interested in this proposal,” said Dennis Koley, Sokol Camp Attorney.

For over two hours lawyers and experts laid out concessions and arguments.

“The only boats that will be on the property of this facility would be canoes or kayaks or something like that, air boats would not be allowed. We’ve heard our neighbors complain and we thank you for that,” said Mark Lovotny, Platte River Resort, LLC Attorney.

Public comments began around 8:30 p.m. as the city council’s Facebook stream rolls on.

“The consequences of this proposal is that it will destroy our way of life on the river,” said Rich Tesar, Sokol Camp resident.

Neighbors against neighbors ceding little ground in their arguments for the land on the Platte River floodway.

Brown doesn’t know what comes next.

“If that’s really not wanted in the community, I’m not gonna push it any harder, it’s not a fraternity party going on every weekend, are families getting together trying to enjoy the outdoors, and that’s what I was trying to do, find a place for people to go, and that’s what I was trying to do for the community,” said Brown.

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