Planners insist that a property encompassing 320 acres at Gregory Road and NW 10 should be annexed by Oklahoma City to draw big business and numerous jobs to the area in the future.
Amanda Carpenter, an attorney representing the city's Industrial and Cultural Facilities trust, presented an annexation plan Tuesday to the Oklahoma City Council that would allow the city to acquire the acreage near Mustang.
Carpenter said the annexation is needed to help create a "mega site," a tract of at least 1,000 acres meant for economic development projects that could court major investors.
“Since 2020, the Oklahoma City area has been a candidate for at least nine different businesses seeking sites of 1,000 acres or more, but has not been able to provide such a site ready and available," Carpenter said. “This area is ideal because it is flat, it is contiguous, it’s next to an interstate system, it’s close to an airport, and it has a readily available workforce in the Oklahoma City metro.”
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In December, the city council and the city's economic development trust allocated $10 million for purchase of a mega site. The 320-acre parcel of land that the city could annex is in unincorporated Canadian County, which Carpenter said means that there are no county zoning regulations or other permit requirements. Annexing the property into Oklahoma City authority, she added, would allow for better safeguards in development.
Right now, no residents actually live on that parcel of land, which is being used for agriculture and industry. But an overall potential mega-site project still might not be without its problems.
Nearby residents protest plans, saying it will disrupt their neighborhoods and agriculture
Some residents living in the broader area surrounding the potential site have been sending protest letters to planning commissioners, objecting to the mega-site's potential to displace nearby residents, disrupt their rural way of life and harm the area's agricultural ecology.
"We moved out here to get away from the noise and traffic of overpopulated areas and businesses on every corner," wrote Jim and Charlette Baird, residents of Canadian County's Banner Creek Addition. "We do not want any kind of industrial facilities anywhere near us. The quiet is one of the reasons people move out here. Not everyone can afford to buy a farm or ranch to build on. If you allow this annex to go through our property values will drop drastically, we will lose our peace and quiet, and probably many of our neighbors."
Another resident, Cory Pivniska, pointed out that the property is serviced by the Canadian County Water Authority and that the city would have to resolve an extension of services to the site.
But Carpenter argued residents in the area would see benefits from increased utilities and road capacities, as well as potential enhancements to the Clarence E. Page Municipal Airport. She also said the local Banner Schools tax base would increase through the mega site without actually increasing the headcount, unlike if a residential development was built.
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“This type of development of employment lands would bring large-scale industrial and manufacturing. This means jobs," Carpenter said. "It is projected to create 2,500 to 7,500 jobs for the Oklahoma City metro area. These types of jobs have an average salary of $63,000, and this is bringing new-to-market businesses that the City of Oklahoma City and its metro area currently don’t have.”
An evaluation from city planning staff for the 320-acre parcel near Gregory Road and NW 10 also found that "Oklahoma City residents' quality of life and levels of service will be maintained" and "the change in municipal boundaries will not create adverse impacts."
'Mega sites bring big players to the table'
In April, the city council's annexation/de-annexation committee reviewed the petition for incorporating the property and recommended it be forwarded to the city's planning commission. Planning regulators then recommended the annexation ordinance for city council approval in May. The annexation proposal is also supported by the city's Public Works Department.
The annexation committee was chaired by Ward 3 City Councilwoman Barbara Peck, who represents the area into which the acreage could be incorporated. In a statement shared Wednesday with The Oklahoman, she described the possibility of a mega site as the fulfillment of a call from residents to diversify the economy.
“While we don’t yet know what business will come to our new Mega Site, we can count on it bringing thousands of jobs, city infrastructure to rural west OKC for the site and everything in-between, and economic development beyond our initial hopes and dreams that reignited with MAPS in the 1990s,” Peck said. “Mega sites bring big players to the table who are great community partners and workforce development hubs for our kids to build a career with.”
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The annexation committee also included fellow councilmembers Bradley Carter for Ward 1, Todd Stone for Ward 4, and Mark Stonecipher for Ward 8. The entire city council is expected to vote on the annexation ordinance June 18, but at least one councilmember isn't happy with the proposal.
Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice believes that incorporating more land into the city is irresponsible, when resources and services for roads and neighborhoods currently under the city's scope have already seen strain going into the next fiscal year.
“We look at $10 million for land, but yet we’re trying to balance a budget and cut the things that people need the most?” Nice asked. “This is insulting.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC could draw jobs, big businesses in annex plan, developers say
