The Board of County Commissioners unanimously agreed to pass its decision to grant a Preliminary Plat for a new residential subdivision at South 129th West Avenue and West 71st Street South in Sapulpa until its June 6th meeting.
The proposed development, Rustling Oak II—Phase 1, would be just west of Highway 97 on the north side of 71st Street, and consists of a little over 47 acres, containing 58 lots, 3 blocks, and 1 reserve, according to County Planner Wendy Murray. Several of the lots have road frontage on 71st Street.
Murray reported that the Creek County Planning Commission (CCPC) recommended approval in a 7 to 1 vote at its May 17th meeting and that a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting was held on April 27th, where the engineer, Alan Betchan, was present to address traffic control, water run-off, and water service concerns.
Several neighbors of the development voiced complaints and concerns at last week’s CCPC meeting and were present Monday morning to ensure their interests did not go ignored.
District #1 Commissioner Newt Stephens affirmed that “a major concern has been water flow into the area affecting water service and fire protection.”
Betchan reported that he provided planning staff with “water district modeling with full build-out and all plans. There is no domestic impact to the area. With the two towers currently in place there are no modifications needed; the system is fully capable of providing water service.” Betchan gave detailed output data calculated “during peak demand and at the lowest part of the tank levels” and concluded that “there is no fire protection issue either.”
Next, Betchan addressed traffic concerns, stating that they have agreed to relocate the entrance to the neighborhood with consideration to an apparent blind spot on 71st Street, and said “we are going to add turn lanes.” He mentioned impending ODOT corridor safety improvements, including planned modifications of the “J” turns at the 81st, 71st, and 61st Street intersections on Highway 97, and said “this is the highest but best answer we have.”
Multiple additional issues were discussed, including the size of the proposed lots, DEQ standards for aerobic systems, stormwater runoff, drainage, the existing 71st Street culverts, detention ponds, road improvements, hydrology reports, ingress and egress to and from the development, and the wear and tear of construction on both County and privately-maintained roads.
“We plan on adding two additional detention ponds with new expanded construction,” said Betchan, and “we will work on drainage design off of 129th and road improvements such as shouldering ditches—this is part of Phase I…We will address the ‘one way in one way out’ and offer another way out of the subdivision crossing over Anderson Creek with better connectivity.”
Stephens explained that some of these issues will be addressed before approving a preliminary plat for the subdivision, but that some of them, such as the hydrology studies, do not have to be resolved until the approval of the final plat, if the process should get that far.
“They have to show that water runoff will be less than it is currently or no more than the current rate. They have several commitments to fulfill. We have a duty as a Board to protect the
County’s interest and the citizens’ interest as well. But we still have to have a balance and provide harmony,” said Stephens.
Betchan agreed that many of the issues would be addressed with the final plat, but said, “I want to make sure we are all on the same page—we don’t want to start this process if the Board is not going to support the subdivision. It costs a lot of money for the next important steps and if the Board is not going to fully support the project we need to know.”
Ultimately, the Board and Betchan agreed to pass the decision on the Preliminary Plat for two weeks, at which time Betchan will bring back information regarding 119th Street, the current entrance, and waterflow.
The applicant’s second request, to rezone almost 69 acres from an Agricultural District to a Light Residential District, for the future development of the subdivision, was approved.
