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February 9, 2013

Becoming business friendly

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Norman developers and chamber leaders have pushed for months to work out more business-friendly practices at City Hall.

The hiring this past year of a development coordinator raised many expectations.

It looks like some tweaking of the city’s practices to streamline development and get projects completed quicker is coming before the planning commission and city council in coming weeks.

One proposal allows a developer to schedule a pre-development conference and a spot on the planning commission agenda at the same time. The concurrent application could save as much as 30 days for an applicant.

Another change would allow a property owner to extend a preliminary plat application for five years. Currently, a proposal has to re-apply for an entire plat if a preliminary plat expired.

Businesses have complained for years about delays that cause them to instead look for sites in surrounding communities. The changes here appear to be a small step towards giving Norman a more business friendly image.

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