Council sends Timber Ridge plat back to Planning Commission after developers disagree on street connections

Broken Arrow City Council on Tuesday voted to send the conditional final plat for the Timber Ridge Residential subdivision back to the Planning Commission after a lengthy public discussion about uncoordinated street connections and safe walking routes to a nearby elementary school.

The 35-acre proposal would create 141 single-family lots west of the southwest corner of Albany Street and 200 Ninth Street. Amanda Yamaguchi, planning and development manager, told the council staff review found the plat met subdivision regulations on its own merits but noted it did not align with a near-simultaneous preliminary plat from an adjacent developer identified in staff materials as "Albany 40." Yamaguchi said the two plats, submitted close in time, contained differing street and detention-pond locations.

The disagreement between the two developers—described repeatedly during public remarks as a dispute over who should pay to build certain connecting streets—drew several applicants and engineers to the podium. Tom Voigt, attorney for the Timber Ridge applicant, said his client’s plan complied with city standards and that requiring an extra stub street on Timber Ridge would eliminate lots and impose over $100,000 in costs on his client to solve the adjacent developer’s phased-build decision. "They're trying to make their issue our issue, and it's just money," Voigt said.

On the other side, Alan Betchen of AAV Engineering, representing the adjoining developer, told the council the two preliminary plats had been submitted within weeks of one another and that the neighboring developer’s phased approach left a short-term gap that would require either a stub street in one location or construction now of a road that would otherwise be built in a later phase. Betchen asked the council to refer the matter so the Planning Commission could consider hydrology, alignment and equity between the projects.

Nicole Wallace of Wells Design Collective described the applicant’s phased approach and said the project will ultimately connect to the street behind Timber Ridge Elementary School in a later phase. City staff also noted the potential for high walker and bicycle traffic to the school and flagged the public-safety and connectivity concerns raised by council members.

After discussion, a council member moved to return the conditional final plat to the Planning Commission to allow further coordination among the parties and additional review; a second was offered and the governing body voted to send the item back. No ordinance or final approval of the plat was adopted by the council at the meeting.

Council members and staff said the Planning Commission is the appropriate venue to work through detailed engineering questions, and several councilors requested developers meet and attempt to resolve the layout before the matter returns to the commission.

The council’s action preserves the record that both plats meet technical regulations as submitted but requests further review to address the community concerns raised about pedestrian access to Timber Ridge Elementary and about equitable cost-sharing for required stub streets.