Preserve Midtown

You can still have some influence in the construction process by helping the city monitor that the builder is compliant on building regulations.

1. You have the right to check the demolition and building permits at the city permit office, 111 S. Greenwood.  These permits should be acquired by the builder before the action begins. 
2. A building plan should be on file with the building permit.  You can get a copy on request, 596-9656 or online https;//secure2.cityoftulsa.org/TimeLine3/planreview.aspx  Check the plan to make sure the house being built is the one that was permitted.  Report any discrepancy to the Mayor’s Hot Line, 596-2100 & to the Permit Office, 596-9656.
3. If the builder does not take adequate measures to stop run-off of silt and debris from his site, please call the Mayor’s hot line, 596-2100 and Scott Van Loo, 591-4379 to report. 
4. Continue reporting the lack of erosion control until it is corrected.  Silt is the biggest contributor to storm drains backing up and flooding.
5. Call the Mayor’s hot line anytime you see someone empty paint or other debris emptied into the storm drain, 596-2100.  This is an unlawful act.  Get a license number.
6. Contact your city councilor about any of the above problems.  They need to know what is happening in their district!

Clogged storm drains are a major factor contributing to neighborhood flooding.

These are good ways we can protect our neighborhoods.

Good News comes from today’s work session meeting of the TMAPC. 

An enthusiastic and nearly unanimous commission authorized the TMAPC staff to work with a sub committee of the TMAPC to formulate a plan to have open discussions to determine the problems in todays neighborhoods and find solutions.  “We want to determine where we want to be as a community” stated Dwayne Midget the WIN director from the Mayor’s office.  We should look at including the Comprehensive Plan people so they see what is going on in the neighborhoods. 

Commissioner Michelle Cantrell stated that TulsaNow organization might be interested in co-hosting this event.  Commissioner Gary Sparks said this study should be “broad and well-organized.”  New Commissioner Liz Wright reminded everyone that the focus should be to inform, educate and hopefully illuminate the citizenry of Tulsa.  Michelle Cantrell also suggested we should have these meetings in the evenings so the neighborhood residents could attend.

This is the first step we need to bring a forward vision to Tulsa while valuing our older neighborhoods.

We must not let our delight in this development make us overconfident.  We must stay in the process and make sure it continues this forward motion.

There are many issues that are at stake here and we will be working to make sure stormwater run-off, environmental impacts, demolition process, enforcement with meaningful fines, and other issues are addressed.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed your time and talent to our efforts to have neighborhood problems brought to the table.

About Neighborhood Conservation Districts Myth: Supporters of Neighborhood Conservation Districts (NCD’s) “under the radar.”                                                                                                            Mythbuster: PreserveMidtown hasn’t been hiding anywhere!

1.  Through a suggestion by Cason Carter, PreserveMidtown was created to bring public awareness to the issue of infill development in January, 2007.

2.  We attended the Mayor’s neighborhood picnics throughout the summer of 2007 to speak to the issues of infill development.

3.  We launched our website www.preservemidtown.com in June, 2007.

4.  We hosted a public forum on “Teardowns in Tulsa”  on infill development in October, 2007.

5.  We discovered through networking with Homeowner Associations that Maria Barnes was championing NCD’s.

6.  PreserveMidtown, along with the Brookside Neighborhood Association, the Coalition of Historic Neighborhoods, the Tulsa League of Women Voters and the South Peoria Neighborhood Connection Foundation, hosted a District 4 and District 9 City Council Candidate forum on February 25, 2008.

7.  PreserveMidtown distributed a survey to all city council candidates about the infill issues and posted it on their website, www.preservemidtown.com. 

8. PreserveMidtown distributed over 500 signs at the request of supporters of “building homes that fit the neighborhood.”

Myth: Supporter’s of NCD’s is a small group.

Mythbuster: We have contacted over 2,000 people who support and are interested in NCD’s.

 Myth: The committee drafting the NCD document is unfair.

Mythbuster: Steve Novick, attorney-at-law, who is a neighborhood advocate and board member of PreserveMidtown, sits on the committee.   Paul Kane, who is executive vice- president of the Homebuilder’s Association, also sits on the committee.

 Myth: Preserve Midtown just wants to control people.

Mythbuster: That is exactly what PreserveMidtown is against—control.  We want the discussion of who “controls” the neighborhoods to be held in a public manner with input from as many resident property owners as possible.

If anti-neighborhood conservation districts people don’t like control, why are they trying to control what happens in other people’s neighborhoods. 

Why would someone living on 45th street try to control what happens on 22^nd street by denying that neighborhood the ability to adopt a neighborhood conservation district?

   Myth: The city is acting like a communist government.

Mythbuster: “A conservation district zoning overlay is a more site-specific application of the city’s authority to plan and zone. The legal basis for conservation districts, therefore, are essentially the same as the legal basis for our current zoning code, as are the fundamental policy considerations (i.e. balancing private property rights and community interests.)” Jack Blair, “Neighborhood Conservation Districts”, November 20, 2007.

  (more…)

Americans love tearing down buildings. We rip our homes up to the studs, scrape them down to their foundations, and are riveted by the ultimate demolitions: imploding skyscrapers. It’s part of a cultural need to make way for the new and improved.

But the construction and operation of buildings sends up twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as the entire U.S. transportation sector, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. (Analysts with the federal Energy Information Administration say it is probably closer to even, all factors considered.)

Read more of this article at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-re-teardown-nation-0413apr13,0,6149123.story

Super-sized homes, or “McMansions,” are coming under fire across the country as many cities consider stemming the trend of tearing down houses to replace with larger, new construction. In the past two years, cities like Austin, Atlanta, and Delray Beach, Fla., have declared moratoriums on demolitions, buying time to devise a solution.

Read more about this article in the Preservation online magazine published by the National Trust:http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2008/story-of-the-week/mcmansions-on-hold.html

The Conservation District Ordinance for Tulsa is under review by the TMAPC.

If enacted, a Conservation District would have to be adopted by an organized neighborhood to be enforceable.  The neighborhood would decide what characteristics of their neighborhood they would like to maintain.  A Conservation District Ordinance is a tool that neighborhoods can elect to use.  The city will not force neighborhoods to become a Conservation District. 

A Conservation District will allow an organized neighborhood group to ELECT to set limits on issues like setbacks, structure heights and open space requirements that are compatible with the existing homes in that neighborhood.

A Conservation District does not regulate aesthetics of homes.

Communities routinely make investments and create land use policies that affect property values for the greater good. Regulating infill development is no different. It affects the quality of life and character of the community at large.  Although some may frame the issue as an intrusion on the property rights of the owner who wants to sell or knock down their house and build something new, it is important to remember that it works both ways.  Teardowns affect the property rights and investments of neighbors who have to live with the results.  With property rights come responsibilities.

The highest and best use does not always mean the most profitable use imaginable.

April 12 - Cherry Street Farmer’s Market

7:00 am to 11:00 am 15th and Peoria, Tulsa
For more information contact Kim Smith at krs578083@cox.net or 918-519-9383
Come and celebrate Spring with a basket of local foods and enjoy the morning with music and your farmers market friends.

Public Open House

Jazz Hall of Fame at Union Station                                                             

Thursday, April 24, 2008, 6 pm - 8 pm

•  What would it take to implement a successful regional transportation wywtem with multiple transportation options, including rail?
• What is the relationship betwween development and rail?

How have other cities addressed these questions?

You are invited, alon with experts from Denver, Austin, Portland and the federal transit Administration, to discuss these questions and others to begin a community dialogue about transportation options, including rail.

Jazz Hall of Fame, 111 E. First Street

Agenda:

6:00 pm - Open House Begins

6:15 pm - Formal Presentation

7:00 pm - Discussion and Questions

7:45 pm - Closing Remarks

 Sponsors:  INCOG, FTA

Other Sponsors:  Tulsa Now, PlaniTulsa, Tulsa Metro Chamber, Tulsa Young Professionals