The Edmond Planning Commission on Oct. 7 recommended approval of a zoning map amendment to rezone roughly 3.3 acres at the northwest corner of Memorial Road and Rhode Island Avenue to PUD Z25‑00005, “Oste Plaza on Memorial,” voting 3-0 to advance the PUD to the City Council for final action on Oct. 27.

The rezoning is significant because it would allow a mixed‑use planned unit development with small commercial buildings on Memorial Road and two‑family residential structures (duplexes) to the north, representing a change in density and use from the existing planned unit development zoning for senior apartments.

City planning staff said the proposed PUD covers approximately 3.3 acres and listed key elements in the design statement: allowed uses include two‑family dwellings; a 35‑foot height limit is proposed; access will be from Memorial Road and Rhode Island Avenue; and the Edmond Plan 2018 design guidance classifies the site as Suburban 1 neighborhood, recommending sensitivity to adjacent residential development through building placement, landscaping and buffers. Staff recommended approval.

Charles Allen of Allen Engineering, representing the applicant, provided updated site drawings to show planned connectivity to an existing medical office to the west and said the team reduced the number of Memorial entrances and realigned the remaining entrance to provide about 325 feet of separation from Rhode Island Avenue. He said the project as proposed contains a maximum of 10 units (which, as he explained, would be five duplex structures), two‑story duplexes with two‑car garages, and commercial buildings on Memorial.

Multiple neighbors spoke at the public hearing and urged conditions or changes. Debbie Pierce, a neighborhood resident, said the neighborhood has only two entrances on Memorial and raised emergency‑access concerns: “If there's a catastrophe on Memorial, we are dead in the water.” She objected to the planned duplex density and asked that new development be consistent with the existing one‑ or two‑acre parcels.

Kathy Wallace, a resident on Rhode Island, asked the commission to require sidewalks on Memorial and to address the lack of curbs and drainage where Rhode Island enters the neighborhood. Michael Schneider, who lives directly north and west of the site, asked that existing cedar trees along the property line be retained where practicable and requested that exterior lighting be oriented inward so it does not shine into adjacent backyards. Julie Ezell, whose family members live in the neighborhood, said she had been told the city’s traffic engineering group had not completed a traffic impact study for the development and urged the commission to consider traffic signal timing and safety for teenage and elderly drivers.

Allen and planning staff responded to concerns during the hearing: staff reminded the public that the PUD is the zoning document and that specific site‑plan details (including final landscaping, lighting and sidewalk locations) would be reviewed and required at later site‑plan review. Allen said sidewalks and pedestrian connections will be addressed in the site‑plan stage and noted that the city typically requires sidewalks adjacent to public rights‑of‑way. He acknowledged lighting and landscape concerns and said the design includes an 8‑foot privacy fence, two‑story duplexes to buffer lighting and landscaping that will be refined during site plan review.

After discussion and public comment, a commissioner moved and seconded approval of the PUD rezoning. The motion passed by a 3-0 vote, and the item was scheduled to appear before the Edmond City Council on Oct. 27, 2025.

The transcript records the PUD case as Z25‑00005 and identifies surrounding uses, proposed setbacks and facade materials; it does not record a traffic‑impact study being submitted for this hearing.