Title
RESOLUTION NO. R-1112-131: A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, ADOPTING THE ORIGINAL TOWNSITE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AS AN ELEMENT OF THE CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
Body
BACKGROUND: The Norman 2025 Land Use and Transportation Plan adopted in 2004 recommended the establishment of a neighborhood planning program with a dedicated City staff member to manage the process. The program would be designed to "engage neighborhoods in Norman's Core Area in a participatory planning process to directly address such issues as land use compatibility, parking, circulation, and neighborhood improvements." The 2025 Plan also recommended that "the Planning Commission and City Council would adopt each of the neighborhood plans as an element of the City's Comprehensive Plan." The City Council adopted its first two neighborhood plans under this new program in 2007.
This update of the Original Townsite Neighborhood Plan is a considerable expansion from the Plan originally written in 1990. While limited in scope, that plan has served the neighborhood well for the past twenty years. Residents have met annually to discuss issues and review the neighborhood goals laid out in the 1990 plan and establish spending priorities for CDBG funds. Each year, they have identified infrastructure improvement projects based on goals established in the 1990 plan. The time has come to update the plan for a new generation of residents who are responding to a changing social and economic climate and different neighborhood priorities.
DISCUSSION: The Original Townsite Plan is the City's sixth neighborhood plan to be considered for adoption. Neighborhood boundaries are the south side of Gray Street, the east side of Porter Avenue, the north side of Alameda and the west side of Reed Avenue.
Initial work on the plan began with neighborhood meetings held in 2007 and 2008, followed by field surveys conducted in 2009. Completion of the Original Townsite Neighborhood Plan was delayed by the City Council's 2008 decision to undertake the Porter Avenue Corridor Study. Though the Porter planning effort delayed the completion of the neighborhood plan, many issues the neighborhood has grappled with for years have resulted from land use conflicts along Porter Avenue. Residents of the neighborhood have expressed optimism that the 2010 adoption of the Porter Avenue Corridor Plan and the Porter Corridor Zoning Overlay District will have a positive effect on the Original Townsite Neighborhood as well as other Core Area neighborhoods flanking the Porter Avenue Corridor.
The Original Townsite Neighborhood Plan does not modify any underlying land use adopted by the Norman 2025 Plan. The neighborhood plan is a policy document that is intended to help protect the neighborhood's assets and effectively reverse negative trends in the area.
The organizing principle of the Original Townsite Neighborhood Plan is "strengthen what we have." This principle is articulated by six long-term goals that are followed by a variety of specific objectives. Some of these objectives will be implemented by neighborhood residents themselves; some by City staff, and some by a partnership of City staff working alongside neighborhood residents.
The Planning Commission discussed the Original Townsite Neighborhood Plan on June 14, 2012 and voted unanimously to recommend adoption.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the Original Townsite Neighborhood Plan.