Edmond council reviews mid‑project draft of Unified Development Code; consultants propose four context areas and codified standards

Consultants presented a mid‑project update to the Edmond City Council on a proposed Unified Development Code (UDC) that would reorganize the city’s zoning into four context areas and reduce the number of zoning districts.

Dawn Warrick, project manager with Friese and Nichols, told the council the team has been working through a diagnostic report that reviewed Titles 21, 22 and 23 and compared the existing code to the city’s long‑range planning policies. “We’re excited to give you an update on this code project,” Warrick said as she opened the consultants’ briefing.

The proposal would divide Edmond into rural, suburban, urban and corridor context areas and align proposed zoning districts to those geographies. The consultants said the draft framework proposes 13 districts to replace more than 30 existing districts, with draft tear sheets for each district that would list purpose statements, dimensional requirements and design standards.

Jake Lange, a project planner on the team, said the diagnostic emphasized three evaluation criteria for changes: alignment with adopted planning policy, administrative feasibility for city staff, and user friendliness so property owners and developers can understand requirements without excessive review. The presentation also highlighted green infrastructure and low‑impact development as cross‑cutting priorities for stormwater and site design.

On urban design, consultants proposed a form‑based approach for much of downtown, focusing on street frontages and building form rather than only on permitted uses. Warrick described three subareas for proposed town‑square districts and said downtown boundaries remain preliminary and subject to further advisory committee review.

Councilors pressed for outreach clarity. One councilor asked for an overlay of homeowner associations and neighborhood organizations to ensure the city’s engagement reaches organized and less organized neighborhoods alike; consultants agreed outreach mapping would identify coverage gaps.

The consultants also proposed reorganizing use regulation to increase predictability. Under the draft, many uses now handled through specific‑use permits would be recast as codified ‘‘limited uses’’ with clear development standards and administered by staff instead of through discretionary public hearings. On that point, Warrick said, “If that [a proposed use] meets the requirement, would the sort of then default be approval?” and the consultant replied, “It would be approval without a hearing.”

The presentation noted the advisory committee and staff had discussed a points‑based incentive program but recommended against a points system; Warrick said the team is instead moving to codify higher‑quality development as the minimum city standard. “If that’s what we want, then that should be what we’re coding to,” she told councilors.

Councilors raised practical issues for mapping and timing. One asked how the proposed context map would treat recently purchased Edmond Public Schools land in Far East Edmond; the consultants said context area boundaries and the future zoning map can be amended and that mapping will include an equivalency table to align existing districts with the new menu. The consultants said they expect to continue mapping, drafting subdivisions and stormwater sections and to work into next summer to finalize the code and map.

No formal code adoption or amendment occurred at the workshop; it was a briefing and check‑in. A motion to adjourn the workshop passed without further action and the meeting concluded.

The consultants and staff listed the next steps as finishing the zoning draft, completing the mapping and subdivision regulations, addressing stormwater and procedures, and producing an equivalency table to limit nonconformities before formal consideration of the new code.