'We have to get it right': City land use, stormwater, transportation in question with OTA plans

Jul. 31—While the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's plans to build two new toll roads in Norman has residents worried about the loss of their homes, city staff stand the shadow of the unknown as they are forced to rethink everything from land use expectations to stormwater and transportation impacts.

OTA announced in February it will build a turnpike along Indian Hills Road and another in east Norman in the Lake Thunderbird Watershed. The $5 billion, 15-year ACCESS plan places the Norman-area turnpikes at the bottom of the list, agency officials have repeatedly said.

Hundreds of residents took swift action to oppose the project in court and alleged the plan threatens an already impaired water supply, federally endangered wildlife and the loss of homes.

Residents have filed lawsuits that accused OTA of failing to fully inform the public of its plans on two meeting agendas this year and another challenging the statutory authority to build Norman area turnpikes. The latter also alleged that OTA has not followed proper bond procedure to fund the projects.

City Manager Darrel Pyle and Public Works Director Shawn O'Leary spoke to The Transcript regarding its plans to update several masterplans, which guide zoning ordinances and subsequent development, in light of the planned toll roads. Earlier this year, the council set aside $1.5 million to update the city's 2025 Land Use Plan, 2009 Stormwater Master Plan and 2014 Comprehensive Transportation Plan. The revamped plans will take at least two years, Pyle said.

The land use plan was completed in 2004, but generally is updated every 10 years.

Land use plan —'too much at stake'A 2016 update to the 2025 land use plan was shelved after it failed to win council approval following community input and a committee that declined to endorse it.

At the center of that discussion was how far east should higher density development and residential zoning go into Ward 5, which is largely an agricultural ward, O'Leary and Pyle said.

Land around the Lake Thunderbird Watershed is almost exclusively zoned agricultural. At the time, discussion centered on the western side of Ward 5 for higher density housing development and how far east it should stretch while protecting the city's primary water drinking supply, the lake.

Pyle said this time, the land use plan for the entire city will have to be updated as the city faces increasing demand for housing spurred by population growth, the need for higher wage jobs in a waning industrial and manufacturing sector — and now, turnpikes.

"Every step is mission critical that you get it right and get consensus as you go, because all future steps are built on everything [else] you agreed to," he said. "There's very much effort that goes into it [study] and it's very expensive. We will not allow it to be put on the shelf and be ignored. There's too much at stake."

Norman's population grew from 2010 to 2020 to become the third-fastest growing city in the state, according to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data. The current land use plan predicted Norman would have to add 23,000 housing units to accommodate growth, but recent news will likely mean that demand will continue to outpace residential construction, Pyle believes.

The University of Oklahoma will join the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 2025, a decision Pyle says will increase the student population and tourism during sporting events. He is already receiving calls from housing developers who want to know where to build student housing in Norman, he said.

Pyle is concerned that if the housing shortage persists, housing costs will rise due to scarcity.

"If we do not provide adequate space in the plan for meeting housing demands of the marketplace, then prices go up," Pyle said.

The challenge to increase housing units is limited available land that is outside a flood plain while being zoned for a higher concentration of housing units such as homes on small lots, duplexes and apartments.

"We think that the rate of population growth is going to accelerate and we're going to be looking at this map, saying where does this make sense?" Pyle speculated. "Where is the logical place we should direct maybe 40,000 rooftops?"

O'Leary said there's one place left to go.

"There's really only one direction you can go," he said. "You really can't go west because there's flooding out there. You can't go north because there's floodplain. You can't go south because there's the Canadian River there. The only real direction is east and southeast. It will definitely be in Norman [20]45."

The intent for targeted growth in east and southeast Norman is in the current land use plan, he said. The plan's map allows for "very low density" east of 24th Avenue East, west of 48th Avenue E from Franklin to Rock Creek Roads and west of 36th Avenue NE to 48th from Robinson to Post Oak Roads. East of 48th, the plan allows for country residential — one home on 10 acre lots with limited exceptions allowed by council.

When asked if a turnpike could change the expectation of the land use around it, O'Leary said "it can."

"One thing we know today is, we have no control over whether the turnpike gets built or not," he said. "If it does, we control what happens around the lake. That is completely a City of Norman project."

When asked if a developer argue before council that a turnpike will mean current zoning is inconsistent with the new changes happening in the area, O'Leary said yes.

Developers have continually requested council approve land use amendments along with zoning changes throughout the city, Pyle said.

The council voted to approve a land use amendment for a planned unit residential development, Destin Landing. The plan contains 762 acres, west of 36th Avenue southeast to Cedar Lane, and Post Oak Roads, in 2016. It was zoned agricultural.

"We hear that criticism all the time," O'Leary said, "'Why do you (amend) that plan?' but it's a dynamic plan, and you do the best you can to reject it."

The "pattern" near installed turnpikes is development, he said.

"Most of them have development of some sort. and it's usually not low-density," O'Leary said. "Not all of it is high density."

In addition to the concerns that a growing population brings and the turnpike's impacts, Pyle said the land use plan must also seek to accommodate industry with jobs that pay a higher wage than retail employers.

"Retail does not drive the economy," he said. "It is those industrial jobs, manufacturing jobs that definitely pay better than the retail side pays, that will support the economy moving forward."

There is "not a lot of industrial real estate available today" in Norman, he said.

Watershed concerns, transportation

City staff are concerned about the potential impacts of stormwater runoff to Lake Thunderbird.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality has found the lake is considered impaired due to pollutants.

Stormwater projects are constrained by a lack of funding. The city does not have a stormwater utility fee and voters have twice rejected both bonds and the creation of a utility fee.

O'Leary said the agricultural and very low-density zoning in Ward 5 is intended to help prevent more runoff from reaching the lake. The turnpike will force the argument again as residents and council grapple with the pressure for more development.

As the studies progress, O'Leary said, "I think that's going to be a huge issue again, and I think the turnpike is really going to force that question even more than it did before. Because now, we have this major highway, and it's going to force that discussion to be even more intense."

Discussions are happening between OTA and city staff, Pyle and O'Leary said and the talk of the hour is stormwater.

In early discussions with OTA, O'Leary said he and fellow staff have made it clear the city has high expectations if the turnpikes are built.

"We expect [OTA] to do more than the minimum," O'Leary said. "OTA, Darrel and I have been on calls and they said, 'Ok. We've got the money to do that. We'd like to do that.'"

OTA spokeswoman Brenda Perry said the agency will have controls in place throughout the process from start to finish to mitigate stormwater.

"OTA will have controls in place during construction to contain sediment runoff from the construction site," she said in an email Friday. "These controls include, but are not limited to requiring permits from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to control stormwater runoff from the construction site; stormwater pollution and prevention plans reviewed, approved, and monitored by the department; and hiring an environmental compliance team to ensure commitments to mitigate and minimize impacts to environmental resources are met."

Both Pyle and O'Leary said working with OTA on those negotiations is stalled until the outcome of two lawsuits are determined.

"Until all the litigation gets worked out, we're just not going to get there," Pyle said.

O'Leary expressed hope in those negotiations moving forward.

"I think we have an agency who wants to do the right thing and they will do extra things if we ask them nicely," he said. "And I think they are sensitive to Lake Thunderbird, just as we are, and they understand it's a state resource as well as a local resource."

O'Leary said from a transportation standpoint it changes "everything." With planned interchanges intersecting with roads the city maintains, increased traffic would likely mean more maintenance.

On the other hand, OTA will take responsibility for two bridges along the path, he said.

The magnitude of the project was not lost on O'Leary, who said thus far, he cannot find a comparable project in other cities across the nation. The project will total 25 miles combined along Indian Hills and west of the lake. He compared it to the equivalent of building "two I-35s through Norman."

"You don't just build 25 miles of a new highway in any city, even big cities," O'Leary said. "I'm trying to find a city, how they did this."

Ultimately, city staff grapple with unknowns until a study is underway. OTA has also not yet finalized its routes.

"We're thinking about this every day and thinking, 'What does this mean?' We're still trying to get our heads around it," O'Leary said.

Mindy Wood covers City Hall news and notable court cases for The Transcript. Reach her at mwood@normantranscript.com or 405-416-4420.