Published: November 05, 2009 06:43 pm      

Reverter issue needs deciding

EDMOND — The current debate about developer Derek Turner’s wish to complete the Planned Unit Development at Coffee Creek with a 345-unit apartment complex is really about more than just building apartments.

The Edmond City Council is scheduled this Monday to hear a new application from Turner to rezone the remaining 14.5 acres where he would like to see apartments developed. But residents who already own homes in the Coffee Creek area want the city to answer another question first.

Some residents believe that under previous Title 22 subdivision ordinances, the land in question actually reverted back to single family zoning in 2001 because the PUD was not completed within a five-year time frame. The City of Edmond has disagreed up to this point, stating that as long as developers continue work on a PUD, then it has not expired.

Both sides of the issue have made strong arguments for their cases.

While we see the city’s argument in how it should define “ongoing development” and whether the reverting back to an original zoning might constitute a taking of the land, the problem remains that this large legal question hangs over the head of every Edmond resident who has a home near a similar undeveloped, but planned project that has gone past the initial five-year time frame.

It’s not just the Coffee Creek residents who have a stake in the city resolving the so-called “reverter issue.”

We just hope the City Council figures out a solution to this question before homeowners take matters into their own hands and tally up more legal fees for taxpayers.