You can’t park here
The Oklahoma Police Association is appealing a decision by the Downtown Design Review Committee to deny plans to build a parking garage.
The Oklahoma Police Association is appealing a decision last month by the Downtown Design Review Committee to deny plans to build a six-story parking garage overlooking Bicentennial Park.
The appeal to the Board of Adjustment, filed by the group’s architect, Scott Dedmon with ADG, argues the design committee did not have good cause to deny the project despite their citing of Downtown Framework guidelines dictating they consider the height of neighboring buildings.
The buildings surrounding the proposed garage at 601 W Main are mostly one-story and two-story structures, and an adjoining building, home to a design shop, is a single story. The proposed site of the garage is a surface parking lot one block west of the Arts District Garage, which is running at 53 percent occupancy.
During the September hearing, Dedmon told the committee the property was decades ago a fourstory brick warehouse similar in scale to the proposed garage.
Protesters, however, were adamant the garage was inappropriate considering the lower height of the surrounding buildings and the proximity to Bicentennial Park. They also noted the design ordinance does not cite historical use in determining appropriate building height.
Kent Gilliland, attorney for the police association, also unsuccessfully argued the framework is a guideline and not as binding as the design review ordinance.
“The committee’s denial of the application is arbitrary, capricious, and constitutes an abuse of discretion, and deprives the applicant of its property without due process of law,” Gilliland argued in Thursday’s appeal.
While protesters argued the garage will hurt development around the park and along Main Street, Gilliland wrote in his appeal that the denial, if upheld, will put a “chill” on downtown development.
“The applicant’s plans are in full compliance with the zoning code and the proposed parking structure fits squarely within the type of development envisioned in the framework. The committee’s decision to deny issuance of a certificate of approval to the applicant deprives the (association) of its property rights and diminishes the value of the property.”