Helmerich Park’s designation under new Arkansas River corridor zoning regulations is being reviewed.
City councilors are partly following a planning commission recommendation from two weeks ago to take the park out of the river design overlay and reconsider its RDO-2 designation, which allows some development. Rather than take out the entire parcel Helmerich Park sits on as the commission recommended, councilors are isolating the park amenities and some adjacent land.
Anna America is among those wanting it to have the RDO-1, or parks, designation.
"That would be my intent, that everything that we clearly want to function as a park, we give it the overlay that shows that," America said.
America said leaving the park under RDO-2 would have been risky.
"That lets somebody five years from now or 10 years from now or 20 years from now say, 'Well, the council said this was RDO-2, and that is intended for commercial development, so that was clearly the intent,'" America said.
Procedural rules prevent the council from giving the isolated land the stricter RDO-1 designation this week. Councilor Phil Lakin said it's probably destined for it, though.
"It's worth a second look to make sure we go out there and actually draw some real, hard boundaries, because I don't think anyone is interested in touching that or allowing that to be developed," Lakin said.
Councilors are leaving the development-friendly designation on the rest of the parcel. However, it’s zoned agricultural, so any plans must get council approval.
Councilors also rejected a planning commission recommendation to exclude the Olympian Condos from the new zoning designations.
