Zoning change recommended on North Union

The Ponca City Planning Commission voted 7-0 Tuesday night to recommend approval of a zoning change at 1904 North Union, the location of Chu-Ona Plaza, from C-1 Local Commercial to C-2, General Commercial.

Development Services Director Chris Henderson said there has been a lot of discussion on rezoning several properties at one time that are located in areas that would be eligible for the higher zoning classification. Several zoning requests have been heard in recent months for properties near Chuona Plaza. Henderson said this location is appropriate for C-2 zoning.

The Planning Commission’s recommendation will go to the City Commission for consideration at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12.

On another issue, whether to approve a rural water meter for property at 5257 North Pleasantview Road, the Planning Commission voted  to continue the request until more information is found to help inform members’ decision.

The request for the rural water meter in Rural Water District #3 was made by Zachary Mansfield, who has recently purchased  the property. An existing house that was several decades old was on the property, and occupied, but there is no record of a rural water meter located there. There also is no history of a well on the property.

The property has been served by Ponca City Energy since at least 1980, and the house was occupied until 2016, Mansfield said.

The size of the property is under the 5-acre limit that would allow a customer to have a meter. The limit is set in a contract between the City of Ponca City and the Rural Water District #3 to limit the number of residences served by water purchased from Ponca City.

The panel voted  to continue the matter to its next meeting to allow more time  to research the history of the previous residents’ water use.