Title
CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE NO. O-1314-4 UPON SECOND AND FINAL READING: AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AMENDING SECTION 460 OF CHAPTER 22 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF NORMAN SO AS TO PLACE LOT ONE (1), BLOCK TWO (2), MEDICAL ARTS ADDITION, AND LOT ONE (1), BLOCK ONE (1), MEDICAL ARTS ADDITION SECTION 2, TO NORMAN, CLEVELAND COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, IN THE O-1, OFFICE INSTITUTIONAL DISTRICT WITH SPECIAL USE FOR A HIGH IMPACT INSTITUTIONAL USE, AND REMOVE THE SAME FROM THE CO, SUBURBAN OFFICE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT, OF SAID CITY; AND PROVIDING FOR THE SEVERABILITY THEREOF. (NORTHWEST CORNER OF EAST ROBINSON STREET AND MEDICAL ARTS DRIVE)
Body
SYNOPSIS: The applicants, Teamworks & Associates, LLC, have requested to rezone this subject property from CO, Suburban Office Commercial District to O-1, Office-Institutional with Special Use for a High Impact Institutional Use to allow an acute care facility to locate on-site. The acute care facility will house twelve children, varying in ages from six to fourteen. The children admitted to the facility are considered "at risk", meaning they can no longer be counseled in a less restrictive environment. This facility will be a twenty-four hour, seven day a week lock down facility. Staffing at this facility will be qualified professionals holding specialized degrees, trained in innovative methods and treatments for youth. The facility was previously used as an outpatient surgery center. That surgery center has since relocated leaving the opportunity for Teamworks to reuse the site.
ANALYSIS:
O-1, Office-Institutional District: This District is intended to provide a place for those types of institutional and office activities that require separate buildings and building groups surrounded by landscaped yards and open area. Land, space and aesthetic requirements of these uses allow them to be located at the perimeter of residential neighborhoods. The district can be an effective buffer between less intensive residential areas and the retail, wholesale and industrial areas of the community.
The applicant is requesting zoning for O-1, Office-Institutional with Special Use for a High Impact Institutional Use to allow their acute care facility on this site. The property is currently zoned CO, Suburban Office Commercial District. The Suburban Office Commercial District (CO) will allow for institutional and commercial activities but not for facilities that require the area to be secured, such as this proposed facility. The Zoning Ordinance defines High Impact Institutional Use as a use that allows for "special care, supervision, treatment, punishment or rehabilitation and must be maintained in a secured environment." The existing zoning of CO will not accommodate the secured environment component as required by this facility. Therefore, the applicant must request to rezone the property to O-1, Office-Institutional with Special Use for High Impact Institutional Use to allow the facility on site.
Site Plan: As stated the applicant will be using the existing facility, with no exterior expansion to the main building. However, the applicant is proposing a new building for a gym/recreational area to the north of the existing building. The site plan submitted for this project is not to scale thus it has not been reviewed for setbacks of the new building. However, the proposed building is similar in setbacks with the existing building to the south, therefore setbacks should be adequate. There is an area north of the proposed gym designated to be a fenced, secure play area.
Impacts: This facility is located in a medical office park development. There are two more lots to the north of this facility that are still available for development. To the north of the office park is County owned land, zoned R-1, Single Family Dwelling District. This land is part of the County fairgrounds. Then north of that area is a single-family development. To the west of this facility is an area zoned R-1, Single Family Dwelling District, but developed with a church. There is also property zoned R-1, Single Family Dwelling District to the south of this facility. This residential use is across Robinson Street, a five lane street designated and constructed as an Urban Principal Arterial Street on the Norman 2025 Land Use and Transportation Plan
OTHER AGENCY COMMENTS:
PARKS BOARD: There are no additional park land requirements for this platted site.
PUBLIC WORKS: The site is platted, utilities and street improvements are already in place.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Office uses are an allowed use within the Office-Institutional zoned areas; however, because this applicant is requesting to use the lot for High Impact Institutional Use, the Special Use designation under Office-Institutional is required. The location of this facility will not impact the single-family properties to the north and south as there are distance buffers between them and this facility. These facilities provide a service to persons from a wide area around the community and, therefore, need ready access to the regional transportation system. From a land use perspective, it is appropriate to allow this use to locate in an existing medical office park setting.
Staff recommends approval of Ordinance No. O-1314-4.
The Planning Commission, at their meeting of August 8, 2013, recommended adoption of this ordinance by a vote of 6-0.