Norman City Council will review a draft of ONE Norman’s vision for the city’s comprehensive plan, which will set a series of goals for the city to meet by 2035. 

The Area and Infrastructure Master Plan, or AIM, will serve as a guide for council in the coming years, aiming to improve the overall quality of life and capitalize on community strengths and opportunities.

The comprehensive plan development will take about two years of discussion before it is implemented at the end of 2025.

The goals set for the Norman 2025 plan were to manage growth, ensure infrastructure supports expansion, diversify housing, increase economic stability, retain the distinct character of rural Norman, develop a greenbelt system for the city and stabilize and enhance the city’s core area.

ONE Norman is a seven-month visioning process to assist the city with the development of a 10-year comprehensive plan. The group submitted a draft of its vision for the plan for council’s review on Tuesday. This plan will serve a similar purpose to the Norman 2025 Land Use and Transportation Plan, which was adopted by council in November 2004.

According to ONE Norman’s timeline, the final version of the plan was set to debut in August. Council and county adoption will take place in 2024 or 2025.

The plan’s economic development goals set out to attract quality businesses and high-paying jobs, according to the draft. The city would utilize research and data in decision-making and aim to create an entrepreneurial “ecosystem.”

The draft does not specify how its goals will be accomplished but rather describes a vision for the city by setting certain goals. 

One goal is to continue Norman’s festivals, arts, sports tourism and event efforts to drive visitors to local businesses. Regarding city codes, zoning and permits, the draft stated Norman would be “the most business-friendly community.”

Norman will also aim to revitalize existing and lower-income businesses and infrastructure to create mixed-use developments, according to the plan.

In the private sector space, ONE Norman wrote strong partnerships between government and business would lead to trust, civic pride and goal achievement. The draft stated that engagement in the private sector will lead to solving talent retention, housing stock, homelessness and job growth issues.

Those goals included the city utilizing incentives and collaboration with private partners and educational institutions to attract and create jobs. Norman would create programming to enhance residents’ “Civic IQ” and foster collaborative public-private partnerships to create diverse and affordable housing types, according to the draft.

The draft does not define Civic IQ, but, in an editorial to the Norman Transcript, President and CEO of the Norman Economic Development Coalition Lawrence McKinney describes the concept.

“Civic IQ is the way forward for progressive communities, at least those who value facts, data, accountability, respectfulness, and the ‘many faces of truth,'” McKinney wrote. 

The private sector would reduce “brain drain” by partnering with higher education to develop and retain talent post-graduation with job placement opportunities. The draft did not provide specifications for how the city would accomplish these goals or what these partnerships would look like.

The draft’s vision to improve quality of life wants residents to recognize that a sense of place and belonging is vital for nurturing a strong community spirit.

Quality of life goals included creating walkable, safe and green neighborhoods, mixed-use sustainable development and affordable housing. Further, Norman would have multiple distinct districts, continue creating Norman Forward concepts and place focus on the University North Park entertainment district, according to the draft.

In May, the NEDC and ONE Norman released data collected by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy that detailed Normanites' opinions about the city’s quality of life. Of the respondents, 56% said that Norman is generally on the right track in regard to quality of life and 33% said the city is moving in the wrong direction.

ONE Norman wrote in the draft that investing in the well-being and growth of all students through top-tier educators is “paramount to the future” of the city. The goals of its educational vision included attracting and retaining quality teachers and administrators, investing in early childhood development programs and ensuring a safe, secure, diverse and inclusive educational environment.

For government plans, ONE Norman wrote citizens desire a responsible government that builds partnerships, fosters growth and enhances the quality of life. To achieve this, the draft stated that Norman would be consistent, predictable and reliable in implementing that wish in local government.

Lastly, for infrastructure, ONE Norman stated that the natural assets of the city should be integrated into transportation to create a connected city.

Infrastructure goals included having a safe long-term water supply and developing a fiscally responsible plan to support a more dense and growing population. The plan noted specifically supporting the infrastructure of roads including walking trails and turnpikes.

ACCESS Oklahoma is a 15-year, $5 billion infrastructure project designed by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. This project includes two turnpike routes that will be constructed throughout Cleveland County and in east Norman.

Other goals for infrastructure included a multi-modal transportation system that will include bike paths and trails in the MAPS 4 program and the creation of a municipal capital improvement program by the Long-Range Capital Planning Commission. 

The draft is included in Tuesday’s City Council special meeting agenda where members are set to have a discussion regarding council priority framework, committee process and the structure of the AIM Plan.

This story was edited by Karoline Leonard, Alexia Aston and Taylor Jones. Sophie Hemker, Cooper Marshall, Mary Ann Livingood and Grace Rhodes copy edited this story.