Commission backs Project Clydesdale zoning, PUD and preliminary plat for 506-acre technology park

The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission on June 4 recommended approval of CZ-565 and the companion Planned Unit Development PUD-871, and approved the project’s preliminary plat, clearing a key procedural step for Project Clydesdale, a proposed approximately 506-acre technology park west of North Sheridan Road.

Under the PUD standards, the site would be rezoned from AG to IL with a set of supplemental development controls that explicitly permit data centers and related uses while imposing large buffers and setbacks. The proposal establishes an 815-foot natural area along North Sheridan Road, minimum landscape buffers of 150 feet in several locations, and 300-foot building setbacks adjacent to some residential boundaries; it also sets a project maximum FAR of 0.75 and typical building heights of around 50 feet (with limited mechanical exceptions). Lou Reynolds, representing the applicant, said the PUD’s standards are intended to “ensure the integration of the Project into the surrounding area” and to preserve wooded natural areas where feasible.

Supporters emphasized economic benefits during the public comment period. Dustin Phelan, who identified himself as a representative of IBW 584, said the construction program would generate substantial local work hours and wages; he told the commission the project “would do over a 1-million-man hours, bring his members about $40 million in wages, about $6 million to insurance companies,” and provide additional economic activity. The applicant said utility upgrades — including a new electrical substation and modeled water service with the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority — are part of the effort to avoid service shortfalls, and that some water used for facility cooling would be recycled.

Commissioners asked technical and service questions; staff noted Technical Advisory Committee requirements tied to final plat release (street construction approval, water and sewer plans, stormwater and floodplain work, utility releases and an Oklahoma Corporation Commission records check for oil and gas). The commission voted unanimously to recommend CZ-565 (motion by Bulmash, second by Shivel; vote 10-0-0), approve PUD-871 with the stated development standards (motion by Bulmash, second by Turner-Addison; vote 10-0-0), and recommend the preliminary plat subject to TAC conditions (motion by Bulmash, second by Rosene Robinson; vote 10-0-0). The actions are recommendations to the County and other approving authorities and do not themselves authorize construction.