Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Platted Revisions Discriminatory Language topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Historic Preservation Commission unanimously recommends removing discriminatory language from plats
Summary
The Oklahoma City Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the Planning Commission and City Council consider amending plats that contain racially restrictive language, following a presentation by the municipal counselor's office and the Human Rights Commission.
The Oklahoma City Historic Preservation Commission unanimously voted to recommend that the Planning Commission consider amendments to plats containing racially discriminatory language and adopted a related resolution to forward that recommendation.
The recommendation originated with Jonathan Garcia, an attorney in the Municipal Counselor's Office, who presented on behalf of the Human Rights Commission and asked the commission to support a blanket recommendation directing Planning and City Council consideration of plat amendments. "Some plats still contain restrictive covenants that are not enforceable, but the law now allows municipalities to amend plats to remove that language," Garcia said, referencing Senate Bill 1617 and the city's desire to correct historic documents.
The commission's vote will send a general recommendation and the adopted resolution to the Planning Commission; each affected plat will still require separate review and formal amendment through Planning and City Council. Commissioners moved the item earlier in the agenda and then took the substantive vote; the motion to recommend and to adopt the resolution passed unanimously.
Commission staff explained the procedural steps that follow: Planning Commission and City Council must act individually on each plat amendment. The staff memo attached to the item notes that Senate Bill 1617, signed in 2024, authorizes municipalities to amend plats to remove discriminatory language, but that the amendments themselves must be processed parcel-by-parcel through the usual plat and legislative review process.
The commission did not take separate actions on individual plats at the meeting; commissioners approved a blanket recommendation and the resolution only. No public comment opposing the recommendation was recorded during the discussion.
The commission's action creates a formal recommendation that staff will transmit to Planning, where staff and commissioners said each plat will be scheduled for its own review and public hearing before any change is recorded.
A record of the commission's presentation and unanimous vote will be included in the Planning Commission packet for the related items when they are docketed.
