As the Norman community prepares for increased population growth and changes to its transport infrastructure, Norman City Council is taking a long-term view of the future of zoning and economic development.
Strong Towns will soon launch a community partnership for better zoning that will enable a stronger local economy after city council approved a deal with the organization on Tuesday.
The $145,875 contract will converge with other planning initiatives that the Council will oversee in the coming years.
In May, the city council agreed to hire a consultant to tackle the city’s outdated comprehensive land-use and transportation master plans.
It is expected to take two years to complete a report on the revision of zoning and land use ordinances, City Manager Darrel Pyle told The Transcript in July.
Staff applied to Strong Towns to be selected for the Community Action Lab after Ward 8’s Matt Peacock rallied support for it during the council’s July goal setting retreat.
Peacock said this week that given the many changes at Norman, timing couldn’t be more important to moving the organization forward.
“Today we are at a turning point in Norman’s history, with unprecedented opportunities and challenges spanning a wide range of community issues,” said Peacock.
“These topics range from a proposed turnpike route, to the university moving to the SEC, and everything in between, such as: B. Revision of our own strategic planning and transport documents.”
City planning director Jane Hudson said Strong Town’s vision is to bring its approach to the community, but with input from the community and a trained action team to help solve problems.
“The Strong Towns Initiative gives the City of Norman an opportunity to work with city and community leaders to discuss how our community will grow/develop in the future,” she said.
“The City hopes that this proposal and the upcoming work on the Comprehensive Plan and other Master Plans will work together to produce comprehensive plans that City Leadership and the community can use to the benefit of the City of Norman.”
Strong Towns is implementing a two-year, five-phase program focused on the input of community and city leaders to implement zoning changes and progressive measures to facilitate business development, according to a staff presentation to the Business and Community Affairs Committee in September.
Peacock said the goal is prosperity for all in Norman.
“In a Strong Towns approach, the community is where wealth is created,” he said. “Jobs and wages are the capital that seeds local prosperity.
“Bottom-up opportunities for growth and investment are key to building local capacity.”
The program will launch its Community Action Lab in January with presentations and question-and-answer sessions with the public, followed by a discussion on the release of the initial project goals and subsequent training of city leaders and implementation of the goals. Ongoing support is included in the final phase of the program as indicated in the presentation.
Peacock said working with the public is key.
“History and culture are the most important parts of working together in the community,” he said. “With the Community Action Lab, we’re bringing together everything Strong Towns has learned, not just about building more resilient cities, but about building a movement; something that the citizens of Norman will benefit from for decades to come.”
Ward 7’s Stephen Holman, Chair of the Community Planning and Transportation Committee, expressed his support for the partnership as a longtime supporter of the Strong Towns policy and philosophy for cities.
“They encourage incremental and intelligent growth, and I think Norman needs to tackle things going forward,” Holman said. “It will help the city make better decisions and save money in the long run.”
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