Edmond rezoning for 600 apartments rejected

EDMOND — The planning commission has voted against the rezoning of land, which could include nearly 600 apartment units, along with sign variations at Covell Road and Interstate 35.

“We are ignoring the 500-pound gorilla in the room,” said Ed Moore, head of the Edmond Neighborhood Alliance. “It looks like a work-over of all the people who have a lot of pride in this area.”

During a heated meeting Tuesday, Todd McKinnis, attorney representing the developers, made a plea that the commission not postpone a decision.

“We are trying to evolve our project as the market dictates,” McKinnis said. The project has been going on for 12 years.

The final vote was 3-2 in opposition. The city council will consider the planning commission’s recommendation at 5:30 p.m. on April 9.

Planning Commissioners Mark Hoose and Kenneth Wohl voted yes, stating that residential use would help increase sales tax revenues.

Many developers are watching the language on the project’s documents in hopes of bringing the same style of development to other areas in the city.

The planned unit development would allow for apartments to be located on top of retail outlets on no more than 47.7 acres inside of the 130-acre area, which includes the new Edmond Conference Center and Hilton Garden Inn.

A future ShowBiz Cinema is planned in the area and could open around Thanksgiving.

The density of the proposed apartments, records indicate, would be no more than 16 units per acre.

However, multiple commissioners said the plan is too ambiguous and needed clearer language that residential use will be built on top of the retail, with a more detailed map.

McKinnis said he would have a revision sent to the city by Friday.

A master plan also would be created for signage with a variance being sought that would allow for 60-foot signs with 200 square feet on each sign face, which is 50 square feet larger than city code allows. In total, the development could have four 60-foot signs on its east side.

“We are trying to make our development nicer,” McKinnis said. “Retail likes to follow people and people don’t tend to follow retail.”