Braum’s zoning change proposal fails to advance
Attorneys representing Braum’s Ice Cream & Dairy Stores and the owner of properties on a triangle-shaped block off Classen Circle in northwest Oklahoma City said Thursday the historic Donnay Building on the site is history.
They told members of Oklahoma City’s Planning Commission the landowner plans to demolish the building, regardless of whether or not a needed zoning change to allow the construction of a Braum’s on the block is approved.
That news caught opponents of the plan by surprise.
However, it wasn’t enough to convince a required majority of commissioners to make a recommendation on whether or not the zoning change should be approved.
A motion to recommend approval of Braum’s request drew a three-to-three vote from seven members of the nine-person panel.
The Ward 4 commissioner seat is vacant, and Ward 7 Commissioner Lee E. Cooper, Jr., was absent on Thursday. Ward 3 Commissioner Mary Coffey didn’t vote.
Commissioners J. Michael Hensley, Gary Rankin and Scott Cravens voted in favor of the request. Commissioners Janis Powers, Asa Highsmith and Rusty LaForge voted against.
A second motion to send the request on to the City Council without a recommendation also couldn’t draw the needed five votes, meaning the issue will return to the planning commission for reconsideration at its next meeting Oct. 12.
Attorney David Box, who represents Braum’s, said after Thursday’s meeting the company intends to continue working with the landowner to pursue the zoning request.
The votes followed about an hour of remarks from opponents of the zoning request and about 30 minutes of debate among commissioners.
Lynne Rostochil, an opponent of the plan,
joined other speakers at Thursday’s meeting to express concerns they have about traffic they fear the restaurant would bring into the Helm Farm neighborhood, noting the block is difficult to get to or leave without traversing its streets.
Speaking on behalf of the proposal were attorneys Box and Dave Kennedy, who represents the landowner seeking to sell the block to the restaurant, Red Oak Properties.
The zoning request seeks to take residential-zoned parcels on the block’s southeast corner and include them in a commercial, simplified planned unit development district that proposes demolishing all the block’s buildings to make room for the Braum’s and surface parking.
On Thursday, Kennedy said Red Oak will tear down the Donnay Building, one way or another. He said it then would seek to develop a more intensive project for the block, such as a large hotel, if the Braum’s proposal is rejected.
“The prognosis for that building, short-term and long-term, is ... we are going to demolish it next spring,” Kennedy said.
Commissioner Janis Powers, who represents the area of town where the project is proposed, agreed with opponents who spoke Thursday that the site is extremely difficult to access by car.
The block is bordered on its northwest frontage by Northwest Highway, which in that area is a major on and off ramp for Interstate 44, and Classen Circle — oneway access roads on each side of Northwest Highway that give motorists access to commercial properties on either side of the highway, including the location where the Braum’s would be built.
Military Avenue borders its east side, while NW 50 borders its south side.
Powers also said she didn’t like being asked to rezone the residential properties without being given an opportunity to consider the planned unit development proposal for the entire site.
“The problem for me with this application is that it is about having your cake and eating it too,” she said, adding she would prefer Braum’s to go ahead and buy the block and then resubmit an entire plan for the group to consider.
“Braum’s purports it is fully committed to developing the site, but not committed enough to buy it outright. The plan is conceptual only, and we can’t talk about the details because that’s not what is in front of us.”
Commissioners who supported the request, however, countered that the area has been a commercial area for decades.
Commissioner Cravens said he’d support the zoning request even without the site plan because of all the commercial development around the block already.
“Trying to be objective ... it would be very hard for me not to support that application because the area supports it,” Cravens said.