Collinsville commissioners approve rezoning for 150-acre development

Collinsville city commissioners voted unanimously to rezone more than 150 acres near Highway 169 and 136th Street North, opening the door for housing and commercial development.

The decision comes one week after the city’s planning commission recommended rejecting the proposal.

What the rezoning means

The land, currently zoned for agricultural use, will be reclassified as a Planned Unit Development. This allows for the construction of single-family homes and a commercial area on the property.

City Manager Chuck Ralls said the developer will now begin hydrology and drainage studies, as part of the planning process.

Residents raise flooding concerns

Neighbors who live near the site are worried the development could make flooding worse in an already problem-prone area.

“We have flooding problems along there,” said resident Dee Helm. “That place is not fit for having the houses that they're talking about putting there. There will be structural problems with that.”

Developer responds

The developer told commissioners that strict federal, state, and local regulations prevent any construction from worsening flooding.

“The reason I am certain that it won’t is because there are regulations in the Collinsville code, at FEMA, [and] the state of Oklahoma that don’t permit that anymore,” the developer said. “For a matter of fact, they are extremely stringent.”

What happens next

City officials say once the developer submits its studies, Collinsville will request a formal floodplain review from FEMA. After that, the city will begin discussions on final designs and what the development will look like.

Ralls said Collinsville will also coordinate with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, as well as Tulsa County and Rogers County, to address traffic congestion and drainage issues. He emphasized that the planning process will take time.

“This will be months and years of planning,” Ralls said. “If we have construction starting in three to four years, that would be an aggressive schedule.”

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