Neighbors say ‘I don’t’ to wedding chapel
For The Oklahoman
EDMOND — The transformation of a house to a new wedding and event center drew opposition among several neighbors at Tuesday’s planning commission meeting.
The Chateau Wedding Event Center is planned for 4600 W Covell Road near the westernmost border of Edmond and Oklahoma City. No new buildings are planned to be built.
“If you put an event center around us, our quiet evenings will be gone,” said Vivian Rice, who owns 160 acres across on Covell. “We have a quiet area for us.”
Despite neighbors asking for changes to the operating hours during the week to 9 p.m., attorney Randal Shadid, who represents the property owner, said it would not be conducive to the business.
“I just do not want to agree to that,” Shadid said. “We think that we can have a good use with this property.”
Several amendments to the plan were recorded by City Planner Randy Entz.
Those include plans on whether the business plans to sell alcohol, the addition of a fence and trees on the south side of the property and a limit to the number of people allowed on the property.
Robert Sheets, an attorney, brought about the concerns that Shadid agreed to address in the plans, which will go before the Edmond City Council on Dec. 11.
Shadid is proposing the center be open every day of the week and close at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and close at 9 p.m. on Sundays during the summer. The hours on Sunday would change to 6 p.m. during the winter.
The applicant, the Roberts Family, will comply with the city’s noise ordinances. Any outdoor music will terminate on or before 10 p.m. at the latest, according to submitted documents.
A similar event center, Saratoga Farms, was approved last year after months of disagreements between neighbors and Shadid, who also represented the business.
New housing development
A new housing addition received approval, allowing for developer Jeff Pearce to become one step closer to building more than 25 homes.
“We have already started selling lots,” Pearce said. He said some contracts will be closed within a month’s time.
The zoning changes would allow about 15 homes to be built on a 40-acre section a halfmile north of Second Street on Air Depot Boulevard.
The area is now zoned agricultural and will be changed to lake residential. “It would destroy our way of living,” concerned neighbor Debbie Loper said. “It is hard to get out of my driveway as it is.”
Pearce now owns another 40 acres to the east of land being discussed and hopes to build eight five-acre lots. There is still 30 acres Pearce plans to develop at a later date.
New shopping strip
The commission approved a new shopping strip on the east side of Davidson’s Nursery that will include shopping and a new restaurant.
While no tenants have been named, there will be 9,600 square feet of retail, along with a 6,000-square-foot restaurant that will be a dinein location, said Terence Haynes, who is the engineer on the property.
New Zaxby’s
Another chicken restaurant soon will be on Bryant Avenue, just across from OU Medical Edmond, once it receives final approval from the Edmond City Council on Dec. 11.
Zaxby’s will be south of Medical Center Drive in a 2,799-square-foot building, which will add to the chain restaurant that is located in 17 states, mostly in the southern region of the United States.