Planning commission approves one-story food hall on Aquarium Campus with parking conditions

The Jenks Planning Commission voted Aug. 7 to approve an amended PUD (JZ25/PUD137) that allows a one-story food hall on the Aquarium Campus, subject to the project’s off-site parking agreements and sign-off by the aquarium’s oversight organizations.

Staff presentation: City planner Marce Hilton described an amended PUD that removes office uses and limits permitted activities to eating/drinking and entertainment; she noted a history of conditional approvals, multiple parties with approval authority (the Oklahoma Aquarium Foundation and the Jenks Aquarium Authority), and a revised design that reduces the project to a single-story food hall.

Parking and design: The applicant’s concept shows roughly 184 parking stalls vs a 178-stall requirement; Hilton said the city has the authority to reduce parking by up to 20% and staff recommended prioritizing development of the northwest parking lot while minimizing development of the south/triangular lot so the triangular parcel could remain as parkland if feasible. Hilton also flagged signage shown in concept renderings that may not be fully supported by current code language.

Applicant and stakeholder comments: Architect/developer Nick Lombardi said the team revised the project to a more traditional material palette and that a 15,000-square-foot minimum under the development agreement had been met. Todd Blackburn, president of the Aquarium Foundation, said OAF conceptually agreed to the one-floor design and parking approach and supported the project moving forward.

Outcome and next steps: Commissioner (speaker 3) moved to approve the amended PUD; the motion carried following a second. Staff will continue coordination with the Aquarium Foundation and Jenks Aquarium Authority to finalize documents and signatures required for the PUD to proceed to council review.