OKLAHOMA CITY – Despite a threat of severe weather, dozens of Oklahoma City residents packed a meeting room of the Belle Isle Library Tuesday evening to discuss a long-overdue update to the City’s zoning code.
City of OKC officials hosted a community discussion event to invite city residents to provide feedback and suggestions for how the code can be fully updated for the first time since the 1980s.
The City Development Code is the set of regulations instructing where houses, businesses, parks, and nearly any permanent development should be located within the city, and is used by the OKC Planning Commission in decisions to approve or deny a new development.
The current code was created for a city much smaller than the present metropolis that OKC has become, and it was originally designed treating the city more like a suburb. The newly updated Development Code – still in the drafting phase – can be viewed here.
“Now is the time to engage, to develop the code and refine it,” said Planning Director Geoff Butler at the event.
Community character
Aside from altering the current distorted view of the city, the new code also plans to incorporate fewer simplified planned unit developments, or SPUDs, a piecemeal approach to individual zoning approvals that developers turn to when a plan does not meet the current zoning regulations for an area.
Removing SPUDs from the process will result in a more consistent and predictable development for all involved, officials said.
But the lack of SPUDs raised some eyebrows during the meeting, with one attendee questioning whether or not new developments will match the characteristics of the area, specifically historic neighborhoods.
“I’m trying to honor our city’s history. I’m not trying to bring San Francisco or New York or Chicago to OKC,” Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper told the attendees, saying that he is a major proponent of staying true to the tone and architecture of the city’s distinct areas.
During the recent renovations of the Jefferson Park and Edgemere Park neighborhoods, Councilman Cooper was responsible for introducing developmental guidelines that specifically instructed developers to build something that honored the area’s history.
Housing need
Cooper said his next endeavor is to try to provide housing to lower-income citizens.
“We have a lot of empty lots in Central Park,” he said, “which means there’s a lot of potential places where a teacher or barista could live.”
He expressed that 19,400 people in Oklahoma City currently need a one-to-two-bedroom home while currently only 3,600 homes are available, a gap that could be closed by a more relaxed, less strict Development Code making it easier to build diverse styles of housing in currently tightly zoned areas.
“46 percent of Ward 2 are renters because we don’t have the housing that we need,” said Cooper
Resident concerns
Cooper’s comments were then followed by many of the attendees expressing their frustrations with new developments.
One resident spoke at length about how she is not in favor of diverse housing, fearing that soon some colossal duplex will be built, taking up space and blocking the sunlight naturally illuminating her home through the window of her small dwelling.
Another attendee expressed disgust over the renovation of a dilapidated home directly behind hers.
Most, if not all, of the comments caused many community members to scoff, with some attendees disappointed that the commenters were fixated on personal concerns about what these developments meant for themselves instead of what they meant for the community.
Stormy weather calms stormy debate
After some mild dispute among attendees, tornado sirens sounded, followed by notifications of a Tornado Warning issued by the National Weather Service.
The meeting took an immediate intermission, and all people inside the library were advised to take shelter in the basement.
Due to the circumstances, despite personal situations, for an ephemeral moment, everyone could relate due to the fact that we were all under the same threat.
What was just 10 minutes ago a group of disputing strangers was now a congenial underground community.
Leave it to a tornado to bring Oklahomans together.
After nearly 30 minutes, the Tornado Warning was lifted and the meeting adjourned.
Assistant Planning Director Lisa Chronister thanked all of the attendees for sticking through the entirety of the conference.
OKC residents are encouraged to learn about the proposed new Development Code update and to leave feedback and comments for City planners to consider. Links, videos, and feedback opportunities can be found HERE.
Gavin Taylor is a writer who explores the lives, work, and events of the people of Oklahoma. He draws his inspiration from engaging directly with the community.
Outside of writing, he is a visual artist, filmmaker, and energetic rock and roll frontman known professionally as The Muffled Siren.
