The Lawton City Council voted to amend the city’s retail economic development policy, extending potential incentives to smaller retailers. Councilmen Taron Epps and Randy Warren supported the change, arguing that the previous policy shut out local investors and small business owners who want to build here instead of national chains taking all the available help.
The decision didn’t come without pushback. Dr. Tommie Simon, who owns commercial property in Lawton, told the council he has invested $370,000 of his own money in improvements and pays more than $100,000 annually in property taxes without city assistance. He questioned whether the amendment was tailored around Cheedar’s, a deal involving roughly $440,000 in incentives, and asked whether Mayor Stan Booker has ties to the Cache Road Square property. Kirk Francois of Backporch Drafthouse opposed the change from another direction, saying economic development funds shouldn’t be used to support restaurants.
The debate comes down to a question cities everywhere are wrestling with: when public money helps one business grow, what does the rest of the community get in return? Lawton residents who own shops, pay taxes, and create jobs all have a stake in how that answer gets written. What do you think the city’s rules should require before any incentive gets approved?
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