OKC Council approves new zoning and planning code
The Journal Record
November 28, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – After more than five years of research and revisions, a new, comprehensive zoning and planning code was approved for Oklahoma City by city council Tuesday.“This really brings the city up to date in terms of the regulations for the development of all property,” city Planning Director John Dugan said. “This is true for both the use of property through the zoning ordinances, and how property is divided and sold in the subdivision ordinance regulations.“This is the first comprehensive zoning ordinance redone since 1979, so it’s a major overhaul for everyone,” he said.

The document concludes the second of two phases initiated after development of the city’s master plan in 2000. Then, city council approved funds to hire Chicago-based Camiros Ltd. to help review previous codes. The city also sought input from local engineers, lawyers, real estate agents, home builders and developers. The group provided a list of nearly 200 ordinance issues that had developed over the years and needed to be addressed, Dugan said.

“The zoning ordinances are now much more user-friendly,” he said. “The previous code was about 700 pages of footnotes and earmarks; it was amended hundreds of times. The new code will be posted on the Internet and hyper-linked so that all the definitions will be explained and appropriate references easy to find.”

In Dugan’s overview, prepared for other city officials ahead of Tuesday’s council vote, it says the most significant change to the ordinance is the inclusion of tables showing allowed property uses and standards – conditional uses, special exceptions, lot sizes, setbacks and the like.“

A user will now be able to reference a table and not search through the individual zoning districts to determine the use and bulk standards,” he said. Other ordinances changes include the inclusion of new business unit uses such as bingo parlors, bed and breakfast lodgings, payday loan agencies, and tattoo and body piercing shops.

A new industrial use for research and development was added to reflect the city’s recent development of technology park zoning districts. And a new unit description was added for residences above commercial or office use.

“There’s also some substantive changes, definitions and authorizations, that move certain decisions from the board of appeals – special uses such as schools and major public facilities like arenas – to the city council and planning commission for approval,” he said. “All those land use policies are now under the direct control of the legislative bodies.”

City staff helped develop the new text and is expected to be fully educated on the changes by the time it’s publicly posted, he said. City council approved the ordinance with an emergency clause, which puts it into effect Dec. 27.

I'm not sure this is good or bad. Often, "progress" means removing many of the legal hoops which are designed to protect the public from unscrupulous individuals. I'll withhold judgment until more is known.

This says nothing about some of the more progressive elements I'd hope would be in the code, e.g., height requirements for buildings in urban areas, etc.

I dealt with OKC’s zoning department many times in the last 35-years and it was always an unsatisfactory and very disappointing experience. We can only hope this will alleviate some of the problems that have plagued that division of city hall for years.

“There’s also some substantive changes, definitions and authorizations, that move certain decisions from the board of appeals – special uses such as schools and major public facilities like arenas– to the city council and planning commission for approval,” he said. “All those land use policies are now under the direct control of the legislative bodies.”

Seems convenient considering if in fact the Sonics do move to OKC the city will be pressed for a new arena in a matter of years. Much easier to push a new arena thru a council or commission rather than a legislative body.