Rezoning for Westwin tract postponed until February

City zoning officials have had to postpone plans to grant permanent industrial zoning to land that will house the new Westwin Elements pilot plant.

Members of the City Planning Commission had been set to consider designating the 160-acre tract as I-4 Heavy Industrial District, the city’s least restrictive zoning and one designated for heavy industrial users such as the cobalt/nickel refining facility that Westwin plans to build on a 40-acre tract at Southwest 112th Street and Bishop Road. Those 40 acres are part of the 160-acre tract.

City of Lawton officials are redoing a process they had completed last year after re-annexing the land in December and bringing it into the city with a temporary I-4 zoning. Because of questions about whether all legal notices had been published for the original annexation, city attorneys directed the city staff to redo the annexation process, to include rezoning the vacant agricultural land for industrial use.

Action to grant permanent I-4 zoning was interrupted Thursday when commissioners struck the agenda item upon the advice of city attorneys. Attorneys said the rezoning request had been filed by the property’s original owners, Comanche County Industrial Development Authority, but CCIDA has since transferred ownership to the Lawton Economic Development Authority (LEDA). LEDA is the entity the City Council has designated to manage the Westwin refinery project.

Community Services Director Charlotte Brown said the rezoning plan must be re-advertised, meaning it will be about 30 days before the request comes back before the planning commission and City Council for action.