Published: May 16, 2008 11:48 am            

Council approves Kickingbird Road rezoning

EDMOND — The prospect of more traffic on Kickingbird Road was the main objection this week when the Edmond City Council approved the rezoning of 4 acres of property located south of the street. This property adjacent to the Huntwick II addition had previously been zoned as general commercial.

Place Properties plans to build a student-style apartment complex with 168-170 units to house potentially four people per apartment at the far east end of Kickingbird Road, east of Bryant. Huntwick II is to the east, Woodcreek town homes are located to the north and Barrington Hills Apartments are to the west, said Bob Schiermeyer, city planner.

“The additional 4 acres may be used for parking and open space when the site plan is submitted,” Schiermeyer said.

Local attorney Mary Ann Karns lives near the area and represents some of the nearby residents. She warned that Kickingbird Road, a dead-end street, is the only entrance to the Place property. The additional apartments will increase the area’s density to 1,500-2,000 residents needing to use the Kickingbird Road exit, Karns said.

“It’s just a matter of a series of choices made by prior Councils that we end up with Kickingbird, which is a major road design dead-ending at the back of the Huntwick addition,” City Councilman Charles Lamb said. “It’s that lack of focus on connectivity from different Councils at different times.”

According to the most recent traffic counts, there are 2,130 vehicles traveling west to exit Kickingbird Road on a daily basis, said Charlie Lee, assistant traffic planner. This number could be doubled to represent traffic flowing east and then west, he said.

Ronnie Williams of St. James Street said his neighborhood, Huntwick II, has met with the developer. And he said the developer has gone out of its way to work with Huntwick II property owners by removing a proposed second floor on all of the buildings adjacent to the neighborhood. There will be a row of trees between a 60-foot right-of-way and an 8-foot fence separating Huntwick II from the proposed site. Huntwick II supports the application, he said.

“Something we were impressed with — even though they can’t really use that 60-foot right-of-way because OG&E basically owns it … they’ve agreed to plant some plants in there,” Williams said.



jcoburn@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 114

        

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