Bartlesville planning commissioners recommend keeping original comprehensive plan language, reject staff-proposed amendments

The Bartlesville Planning Commission voted unanimously April 20 to recommend that City Council retain the original language of the city's comprehensive plan, Endeavor 02/1945, and reject proposed amendments drafted by a four-member working group.

The recommendation follows public comment urging the commission to leave the plan unchanged and a presentation by city staff explaining how the working group formed and what changes it proposed. Greg Collins, special projects manager for the City of Bartlesville, told the commission the working group's redline document and summary were provided in the meeting packet and that the group met five times between January and April to consider amendments requested after the plan's November adoption by City Council.

Why it matters: The comprehensive plan, adopted by resolution on Nov. 4, 2024, guides future land-use and character-area decisions across Bartlesville. Public speakers said the plan resulted from extensive community engagement and should be implemented rather than rewritten.

Resident Dean Castellas, who said he served on the citizens comp plan advisory committee (CPAC), said leadership and followership matter in civic processes and urged retention of the CPAC's original language. Castellas told commissioners: "empty wagons rattle the loudest." Another commenter, Siobhan Robles, asked the commission to "reject all amendments and honor the integrity of Endeavor 02 as it stands," saying the original plan reflected a thorough, inclusive process and that further changes could undermine that work.

Collins summarized the public-engagement record behind the plan: roughly 14 public-input events over 12 months, including five CPAC meetings, three planning commission meetings, four city-council workshops, two sets of open houses, and three "pop-up" events at community gatherings. He said staff had been directed to form a working group to respond to concerns raised after the plan's adoption; that group included resident Sarah Burnett, Councilman Larry East, Councilman Trevor Dorsey and architect Dan Kelleher, with staff support from Collins and Community Development Director Larry Curtis.

During commission discussion several members said they supported the original plan and were concerned that post-adoption changes proposed by a small working group could undermine the broader public process that led to the plan. One commissioner said that while there are parts of the plan they like and parts they would change, rejecting the working-group amendments better respects the year-long process of community input.

The motion, framed as a recommendation to City Council, passed on a voice vote with commissioners voting aye. The commission chair noted that the planning commission is a recommending body and that the City Council will hold its own public hearing and vote; the item was scheduled to go to council on May 5.

The commission's recommendation preserves Endeavor 02/1945 in its November 2024 form pending City Council review.