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Board approves setback variance VA 2026-2, clearing way for dentist's clinic near Sooner/Waterlue Road
Summary
The Oklahoma County Board of Adjustment unanimously granted variance VA 2026-2 to reduce a commercial setback from 150 feet to 100 feet in a planned development, allowing Gold Leaf Properties and applicant dentist Darren Flesher to build a proposed dental clinic. Staff cited a 2021 zoning rewrite that increased setbacks and said the larger setback would make the lot effectively unbuildable.
The Oklahoma County Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to approve variance VA 2026-2, allowing a reduction of the commercial setback from 150 feet to 100 feet in a planned-unit development that Gold Leaf Properties is developing near Sooner Road and Waterlue Road.
Staff explained the background: during a zoning code rewrite in June 2021 the county increased the required setback for commercial buildings from 100 feet to 150 feet from the centerline of section-line roads. Under the 150-foot requirement, staff said the parcel would be effectively unbuildable for the proposed permanent structure; Gold Leaf requested a return to the former 100-foot setback under the PUD allowances.
Two representatives appeared for the application; one identified himself as dentist Darren Flesher, who said he purchased the corner lot assuming it would be buildable and that without the change he would have "1.7 acres that I can't use." Flesher said the proposed clinic plan anticipates roughly 60–62 parking spaces to serve a roughly 20-operatory dental office.
Board members pressed on site constraints including topography, a previously proposed retaining wall, the location of an adjacent urgent care, and a recently installed Oklahoma Natural Gas manifold near the northwest corner of the site. Staff and the applicant discussed possible future road-widening scenarios for Sooner Road (roundabout vs. multi-lane) and cautioned that moving the building closer to the road could limit future expansions.
The board considered a compromise 125-foot setback but members and the applicant worried that would place the building too close to the road and limit expansion. A motion to approve the variance carried on a roll-call vote: Miss Jennifer Cody, Mr. Randy Goodman and Mr. Cooper Robinson each voted yes.
The variance approval permits the developer to proceed toward permitting and construction subject to any technical permit reviews and conditions required by county staff.
