Planning staff proposes expanding Central Norman Zoning Overlay to protect core neighborhoods

City planning staff on Jan. 2 presented a proposal to expand the Central Norman Zoning Overlay District and to clean up ordinance language and definitions intended to preserve neighborhood character and protect lower‑cost housing stock in central neighborhoods.

Jane Hudson, the city’s planning director, told the Business and Community Affairs Committee that the overlay — adopted in 2017 to address rapid conversions and higher bedroom counts in core neighborhoods — was designed to give the council oversight when new residential structures contained four or more bedrooms. Hudson said staff proposed several technical edits, including changing a phrase from “all residential units” to “all new residential units” in the special‑use section…