Norman City Council approved a series of ordinances targeting tobacco use on city property and sales near schools and discussed a Griffin master plan Tuesday evening. Council unanimously approved the consent docket, which included every ordinance on Tuesday’s agenda. The meeting lasted ten minutes.
Mayor Larry Heikkila, and Ward 7 Councilmember and Mayor-elect Stephen Tyler Holman were both in attendance. Holman said he has only missed one meeting in his 12 years on council.
Heikkila motioned to forgo public announcements considering the election, adding council members had watch parties to attend. No member of council objected to Heikkila’s motion.
“Let’s rock,” Heikkila said.
During the regular meeting, Ward 6 Councilmember Joshua Hinkle and Ward 2 Councilmember Matt Peacock swapped seats.
According to Peacock and court documents, Peacock and Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball, who normally sits by Peacock, almost got into a fight during an executive session.
Peacock wrote in a text message to OU Daily in January that during the executive session, — which discussed a lawsuit filed by former Ward 3 Councilmember Kelly Lynn that was later thrown out by a judge and sealed, according to Peacock — Ball took issue with a remark Peacock made and moved closer to him.
Peacock wrote that Austin Ball told him, “Let’s go outside and I’ll whoop you right now.” At that point, Peacock said he told Austin Ball, “Man your breath stinks.” According to Peacock, the altercation ended with Austin Ball leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.
Last month, Ball was charged with criminal misdemeanor charges for alleged embezzlement and making false statements when filing campaign expenditure reports.
Tobacco and nicotine policies
The news: Council approved three ordinances to amend the city code that prohibit nicotine use for anyone under 21, prohibit smoking on municipal property, and regulate the distance tobacco and e-cigarette retailers can be located from schools.
The first ordinance prohibits new tobacco and e-cigarette retailers from being located within 300 feet of schools, playgrounds or facilities primarily used by individuals under the age of 21. According to a staff report, the ordinance would not apply to retailers already located within the zoning distance and can continue operations.
The second ordinance prohibits carrying lighted smoking instruments or smoking on all municipal property. The ordinance also removes exclusions to the definition of “public park,” including parking lots and Westwood Golf Course, a staff report notes. ”
Individuals convicted of violations of the policy will be fined between $10 and $100, according to a resolution.
“Smoking in certain areas has been determined to be injurious to human health, to constitute a source of annoyance and discomfort to nonsmokers, and to be a public nuisance,” the resolution reads.
The final tobacco-related ordinance adds nicotine products to a list of prohibited products and includes enforcement policies.
Convictions or compliance checks related to the possession of tobacco or vapor products by residents under 21 must be reported to the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission within 30 days of the convictions or checks, according to a resolution. The resolution also authorizes Norman Police Department to enlist individuals under 21 to assist in compliance checks and enforcement of the law.
The ordinances were presented to receive a desired level of grant funding through the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, according to the staff reports. The reports add the parks and recreation department hopes to use grant funding to support Miracle Field, an ADA-compliant baseball field for youth with disabilities to participate in outdoor sports and activities.
The vote: The ordinances were approved in the consent docket.
Griffin master plan
The news: During its conference meeting, Council discussed a Griffin master plan presentation by Marty Shukert, community and regional planning principal at RDG Planning and Design.
Shukert said the plan has been in development for a month and Tuesday’s presentation includes suggestions from council members. According to Shukert, the presentation covers an analysis of the site, “building blocks” such as streets, and four concepts.
Shukert said drainage is an important concern, adding two creeks are located on the property and water accumulates in the southwest corner of the site. Shukert said preserving and maintaining historical buildings on the site, including Hope Hall, the chapel and administrative building, are important priorities.
The presentation highlights using the area as a residential area and projects the area could accommodate 5-8% of 2045 housing needs as calculated by the AIM Norman comprehensive plan. Guiding principles listed in the presentation include connecting the area with surrounding neighborhoods, providing affordable housing and becoming a center for artistic expression.
“We're looking at this primarily as a destination and a residential environment for the most part, we want it to be a significant place that draws people to it, that it can become a bridge between east and the west parts of town,” Shukert said. “We want it to be a great neighborhood experience for people who live there. We want to provide affordable housing for a variety of income groups.”
The first concept proposes 1,785 units, including 285 small-site single-family units, 492 walk-up units, 60 mixed-use upper level units, 49 historic units and 900 “Texas doughnut” units. Texas doughnut refers to a wrap-around apartment complex with a parking lot, according to Small Towns.
Shukert said the first concept includes a “continuous green belt” that would wrap around to the top of the site and come back through the middle. He added the concept includes a traffic circle, a trail overpass and a production studio.
“This scheme has some things wrong with it, including too many Texas donut buildings,” Shukert said.
The second concept proposes 1,672 units, including 269 small-site single-family units, 567 walk-up units, 48 mixed-use upper level units, 48 historic units and 740 “Texas doughnut” units.
Shukert said concept two includes a water feature that runs from Main Street to Rich Street. He added the plan could extend water features from the pond to a town square in the center of the property.
Shukert said the second concept could also use the central kitchen as a restaurant.
The third concept proposes 1,843 units, including 242 small-site single-family units, 849 walk-up units, 86 mixed-use upper level units, 66 historic units and 600 “Texas doughnut” units.
Shukert said the third concept slightly shrinks the canal from the second concept and preserves the traditional administration building.
The fourth concept proposes 1,672 units, including 312 small-site single-family units, 628 walk-up units, 72 mixed-use upper level units, 48 historic units and 600 “Texas doughnut” units.
Shukert said concept four refines the first concept, adding it includes Hope Hall as a housing site and a pier on the pond.
Suggestions for implementation listed include potential state cooperation for site maintenance, finding a master developer that is potentially a non-profit development entity, establishing priorities, determining a financial foundation and parcelling property for private development. Shukert said the project would require community support to operate.
“Having that kind of cohesive development where the pieces make sense with each other is really important. This will be a community enterprise. This will be a public, private partnership that involves a lot of community support,” Shukert said. .
What they’re saying: Mayor Larry Heikkila said he wants to discover what to do about potential asbestos on the site.
“There's some pretty big impediments in there called asbestos and ACM … it'll be interesting to figure out how we solve those problems,” Heikkila said.
Heikkila said he also wants to preserve the historical buildings of the area.
“It would be magnificent to keep as many of those buildings as we could and make it as historically accurate as we could and make it into another center,” Heikkila said.
Ward 2 Councilmember Matt Peacock said he prefers the third concept due to its access to Main Street and its pond.
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant said they prefer concept three since it has the most housing units.
Ward 7 Councilmember and Mayor-elect Stephen Tyler Holman said he prefers the third concept, adding council could encourage or require, if desired by residents, new building designs to complement historic buildings.
“There's just a lot of opportunity to add a lot of housing that we need without developing more greenfield and just complimenting a major piece of our city's history,” Holman said.
Peacock said he would like council to have another working session to share ideas for the Griffin property.
This story was edited by Ismael Lele.
