Norman City Council discussed an ordinance that would have allowed camping in residential areas and postponed a Sooner Mall sales tax rebate during its Tuesday meetings.
Camping ordinance
The news: Council discussed an ordinance that would allow camping in residential areas, but decided not to move forward with the item.
The ordinance would establish a temporary emergency permit program authorizing camping under controlled conditions while reducing unauthorized camping where ordinance requirements are not met, according to a staff report. The ordinance would allow only two people and one temporary shelter per permitted lot located in the front yard of the residential area.
On Monday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, Rep. Jared Deck, Rep. Annie Menz and Rep. Jacob Rosecrants released statements criticizing the ordinance.
What they’re saying: Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman said the current state legislature hasn't done anything to address homelessness.
“The state government has no solution to the issue of homelessness. They have no solution to increased costs of living in the state of Oklahoma. They have no solutions to the increased cost of healthcare and property insurance,” Holman said. “So the legislature hasn't really done anything to really address this at all, but they are, just to be clear, critical of us exploring every option out there.”
Holman said the city has been breaking up encampments for years, and it hasn't been working.
“We just keep doing this for years and years with no actual solution to the issue of homelessness and it’s not solving any problem at all. As soon as we break them up, even (with Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Operation SAFE initiative), there’s already tents back, there were tents within 3 days of the state troopers leaving,” Holman said.
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant does not support the ordinance and believes it doesn’t address community needs. Grant is instead in favor of expanding design plans for the city’s planned homeless shelter.
Ward 7 Councilmember Kimberly Blodgett said she would be nervous if council approved the ordinance due to questions about insurance liability.
Ward 1 Councilmember David Gandesbery said constantly moving individuals experiencing homelessness is inhumane. He said the ordinance would not maintain the safety of those experiencing homelessness.
Holman encouraged residents to let council know if they have any ideas on how to address homelessness.
Sooner Mall sales tax rebate
The news: Council postponed an agreement that would allow Sooner Mall to receive a rebate on tax revenue, reimbursing certain property costs made by the mall, according to the staff report.
Sooner Mall has requested a 100% sales tax rebate of non-dedicated city sales tax generated at the mall in excess of the average annual non-dedicated tax collected from 2022-24, up to $300,000 per year, according to a staff report.
The first rebate would be based on 2025 sales tax collection and would be a maximum amount of approximately $60,735. The initial term of the agreement is five years, but may be renewed for a maximum of two 3-year periods.
Council will revisit the item June 23.
What they’re saying: Derick Colwell, Sooner Mall general manager, explained the purpose of the rebate.
“This isn’t anything that was brought forward to save the mall. I want to create a partnership,” Colwell said. “(The mall has) been in this town for 50 years. I’ve been at this mall since I was in diapers, my uncle helped with the development. It’s just something to bring the community part of it back.”
The vote: Council postponed the item 5-4 with Ward 8 Councilmember Scott Dixon, Ward 6 Councilmember Joshua Hinkle, Ward 5 Councilmember Trey Kirby and Ward 3 Councilmember Robert Bruce voting against.
City park ordinances
The news: Council discussed potential updates to several city park ordinances related to park land dedication, rules and tree protection, according to a presentation.
Camping
Council discussed updates to the park rules ordinance related to the Norman Police Department’s clearing of a homeless encampment at Frances Cate Park in May.
The updates include adding further definitions regarding types of parks and would outline who has the authority to set park hours.
Updates would also “identify park rules that merit enforcement by mechanism other than trespassing.” Currently trespassing requires a warning which prevents direct enforcement of certain park rules, the updates would allow police to enforce park rules by creating an ordinance for park rules that merit enforcement other than trespassing.
Land dedication
The park land dedication ordinance requires developers building more than one structure on an acre of land to donate land or pay a fee to provide for public parks.
The recommended updates would create a set fee instead of a fee negotiation based on land market value.
Tree districts
Updates to the tree ordinance would create districts where trees would fall in the exclusive care of the city. It would also create historic tree districts that would replace the current historic tree process.
What they’re saying: Jason Olsen, director of Norman parks and recreation, said fees paid by developers in lieu of land donations are stretched thin due to the amount of accounts they go to. He said limiting the amount of funds these fees go into will give the department more money to update and develop parks.
This story was edited by Reagan Rozzi and Audrey McClour.
