Board of Adjustment approves reduced east setback for Waterloo strip center with screening commitment

The Oklahoma County Board of Adjustment voted to approve a variance that reduces the east-side building setback on Lots 2 and 3 of a commercial planned unit development (PUD) along Waterloo from 25 feet to 10 feet, with the applicant agreeing to install screening. The vote followed extended discussion about site grades, shared drives and impacts on an adjacent church.

The variance affects Lots 2 and 3 in the commercial PUD fronting Waterloo. Board member Randy Goodman and Board member Mister Robinson voted to approve the request after a motion that included a commitment from the owner to provide screening in the form of landscaping, a fence and/or a retaining wall; the board asked the applicant to return with final screening details before the next meeting.

The applicant and design representatives said the developer needs the 10-foot setback so the Lot 2 building can face Waterloo, share drives and parking with adjacent lots, and keep parking and access consolidated on the west side of the building rather than placing a drive between the proposed building and the church to the east. Developer representative Jason Emmett said, “Anything over 10 requires that we lose a bay of the retail center, and thus, the project’s not viable at that point financially.”

County staff explained the regulatory background: the property was rezoned earlier in 2024 as a commercial PUD; the general plat was approved by the Planning Commission. The applicable county zoning standard for an R-2 residential adjacency establishes a 25-foot separation and screening requirements in cases where commercial uses abut residentially zoned parcels; staff noted that screening can be satisfied through combinations of retaining walls, landscaping and fencing. Staff also noted that churches are allowed uses in many zoning districts in Oklahoma County and that the existing building east of the site is a church.

Speakers described engineering constraints on the east edge of the site. The design team said there is a substantial west-to-east grade change at the property line that will likely require a retaining wall; the developer said the wall could also help screen the church. The team said roughly 30,000 cubic yards of earthwork are currently being moved across Lots 1–4 as part of site preparation, and that Lot 2 contains a planned 6,000-square-foot, mostly medical building oriented toward Waterloo. The developer said Lot 2 is roughly 127 feet wide and that Lot 2’s layout was designed to avoid a drive on the east side of the building and to share access with Lots 1 and 3.

Board members pressed the applicant on alternatives and public-safety rationales behind the 25-foot standard. Staff explained that many county setbacks were influenced by the response times of volunteer fire departments and that setbacks and screening requirements are intended to reduce noise and activity impacts on adjacent residential zoning. The board made the approval conditional on a commitment to screening; staff and the applicant will return with specific screening and retaining-wall plans for final review.

The board’s approval includes a direction that the applicant be notified of the next available meeting to present the detailed screening plans; the board did not adopt any ordinance or code change in this action. Because nearby ODOT and District 3 roadway projects (including plans to widen Waterloo and add a roundabout at I-35) were discussed by the applicant as a local context issue, the ultimate site buildout may be influenced by future right-of-way or intersection improvements, but the board’s action as recorded is limited to the setback variance and the screening commitment.

Members of the public were not recorded as taking formal positions beyond the written letter of opposition submitted before this hearing; the board referenced that letter but proceeded with the conditional approval.