OKC school district told to halt construction over error

Oklahoma City Public Schools could have to wait three months to resume renovations on a new student services center because the district submitted the wrong paperwork, a city official said Tuesday.

J.J. Chambless, subdivision and zoning manager for the city of Oklahoma City, said the district’s application to rezone the site of the former Dewey Elementary School in northeast Oklahoma City contained the wrong mailing list of property owners who live within 300 feet of the project.

“They provided that list and we mailed notice,” Chambless said.

“But the list was somehow for another school across town. It was nowhere near the school.

“None of the neighbors that should have gotten notice received notice. It made the application invalid.”

The district recently halted construction at the request of the city, which is reviewing a new application, a process that could take 12 weeks to complete, Chambless said.

“They were working under the assumption it was OK,” he said. “It wasn’t realized until later that they provided us with an invalid ownership list.”

The district’s original rezoning application was approved by the city council but the mistake wasn’t caught until recently, officials said.

“We didn’t realize it and they didn’t realize it,” said Beth Harrison, district spokeswoman.

Harrison said the district was “made aware” of the error last week and is working closely with the city to “move forward” with renovation of the center, 3500 N Lindsay, which will serve more than 46,000 students and families.

Workers were grading the property around the building — which currently houses offices for student support services — for a parking lot when construction was stopped, she said.

“OKCPS has already corrected that error and resubmitted the application for review,” Harrison said in a statement. “OKCPS has complied with the city’s request to cease construction at the site while we work collaboratively with city officials to finalize rezoning.”

Oklahoma City Councilman John Pettis said neighbors have reached out to him with multiple concerns about the project, including not being notified about construction.

“State law requires property owners to be notified within 300 feet,” he said. “Clearly, that was not done.”

Pettis called the construction site “dangerous” because there is no fence around the property to keep children out.

“Kids have been on the site playing in the construction area, so neighbors are concerned some kid will get hurt,” he said. “The site is, in my view, dangerous because of the major construction equipment.”

Harrison said the district has complied with all safety requirements for the project “per city code,” and is willing to go beyond those requirements by “constructing a fence for the site once dirt work and paving work is complete.”

Pettis said waiting to put up a fence is “not acceptable” because that “does not fix the problem.”

“The neighbors are asking for a fence,” he said. “I just don’t want to see any kids get hurt.”