JENKS, Okla — Downtown Jenks landowners are ready to put up a fight as the City of Jenks Planning Commission moved forward on a rezoning ordinance.
The Planning Commission approved the final draft of this ordinance to be sent to the City Council for a vote in April, but some landowners don't agree with the list of restrictions.
Sam Allton owns twenty-five lots in Jenks with multiple lots on Main Street. Main Street is where this Unified Development Ordinance will apply.
The city of Jenks' goal is to keep the historic aspect of the downtown area.
Allton said this ordinance will limit potential customers for his land and have some effect on current businesses.
“They want to limit the automotive care. Cecil's Tire they want that off Main Street. They don’t want an insurance office. They don’t want professional offices. They’re going to be very restrictive with the new ordinance," Allton said.
He has been in talks with an automotive business to develop this land and do business on Main Street but this proposed ordinance would restrict that.
“I believe it will have a detrimental effect on the business owner and property owners in the city of Jenks," Allton said.
The city said the rezoning plan, called the Unified Development Ordinance, will help clarify to developers what can and cannot change in downtown Jenks.
Allton said it will eliminate some uses for the land, from eighty-five options to just over thirty. He's worried about his properties, along with the insurance office and tire shop located downtown.
RELATED STORY: City of Jenks addresses concerns involving proposed unified development ordinance
City Planning Director, Marcae Hilton, said the goal of the plan was to keep the historic aspect of downtown Jenks and to promote growth.
“Redevelopment is going to be very critical for the city of Jenks because we have an amazing downtown and I think that moving forward, developers are going to be interested. They’re going to want to be a part of what’s happening in Jenks", Hilton said.
The city council will vote on the Unified Development Ordinance at a meeting in April.
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