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Planning staff releases first draft of citywide zoning 'uses' for public review; comment tool opens
Summary
Planning Department staff released the first public draft of rewritten land‑use definitions and use regulations as part of a multi‑year zoning code update. The draft reorganizes, adds and clarifies use categories and includes new uses (cottage courts, microbreweries, composting), a consolidated, searchable reference, and an online comment tool.
Oklahoma City — Planning department staff presented the first public draft of rewritten land‑use definitions and use regulations — a central element of the city’s multi‑year zoning code update — and opened an online public comment tool for stakeholders to review and submit feedback.
Marilyn Allen, a senior planner and code‑update liaison, told the Planning Commission the draft reorganizes the city’s use table, updates about 50 uses and adds roughly 30 new-use entries, consolidating language and adding clearer “use regulations” for activities that previously were regulated only by definition or not at all. Examples cited during the meeting include distinct entries and rules for cottage courts, microbreweries, event centers, and composting facilities — uses increasingly requested in applications but not cleanly captured by current code language.
Allen said the rewrite aims to make the code easier to navigate and to reduce the frequent need to “square peg” new proposals into outdated categories. The new materials are posted at okc.gov/codeupdate; comments can be submitted through an online encode tool that lets reviewers open definitions, read proposed use regulations and leave line‑item comments.
Staff asked commissioners and the public to use the draft and the summary “cheat sheet” as they review pending rezoning and site‑plan proposals; the department will compile comments, convene stakeholder meetings as needed and return to the commission with consolidated revisions for later adoption. Allen said staff hopes to adopt the package — which includes new use tables, parking rules and landscaping — as a cohesive citywide update, not piecemeal, and that subsequent iterations will address design standards and base zones.
Commissioners were asked to review the draft and consider which items they want to discuss in more depth at future meetings. Staff offered to provide printed copies of the draft to commissioners on request and to schedule a check‑in at the next meeting for preliminary feedback.
