Planning Commission votes to recommend zoning change for convenience store

The Ponca City Planning Commission voted Tuesday night to recommend rezoning of the southwest corner of Highland Avenue and Waverly Street to C-2 Commercial for construction of a convenience store.

The matter now will go to the City Commission at its meeting next Monday at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.

More than a dozen residents from the nearby Selvey Addition spoke to the Planning Commission with questions and concerns about the proposed project.

Many of the residents expressed concerns about increased traffic and noise in the neighborhood, as well as the safety of children who attend nearby schools.

Others were concerned about the possibility of increased flooding in the area from runoff from a large paved area.

Still others said they did not see the proposed convenience store being a benefit to the residents in the neighborhood and asked that rezoning be delayed until a more suitable project came along.

Planning Commission Chairman Keith Lawrence told the citizens that the Planning Commission has no control over what a developer may choose as a project for the location and is only concerned with zoning matters on requests by developers.

Development Services Director Chris Henderson explained that the zoning request is the first step in a long process of completing a project. Matters such as stormwater detention must be addressed by law, and other issues are addressed during a Technical Review Committee’s work on the proposal.

Henderson did clarify that the project is a convenience store that sells regular fuel as well as diesel, and is not a truck stop. To be a truck stop that allows overnight parking of trucks, the developer would have to seek a Special Use Permit, and that has not been requested.

Roger Gose of Stillwater represents Shepherd Oil Co., which asked for the commercial zoning.

"This site plan has not been through the Technical Review Committee or through all the requirements by the city," he said. "This plan will be modified to meet your requirements. I have had more than 32 years of experience in land development and corners like this are the sites for commercial development."

Henderson said the city’s Comprehensive Community Plan recognizes the 57 acres in the area as the West Development Node. He said there is adequate water and sewer to accommodate 1,500 new residential units.

The future land use map, also from Comprehensive Community Plan, shows commercial development on three of the four corners and the fourth corner is anticipated to be commercial.

"From the 1985 comprehensive plan, this intersection was anticipated to be commercially developed," Henderson said. "And from the Master Plan from 1957 – 58 years ago – the corner was designated as a commercial node – a concentration of commercial uses. This has been anticipated for many, many years."