To give some background about land use issues and our established neighborhoods, the founders of PreserveMidtown, will be telling our story about why we formed and about the lawsuits that have been brought against us and our neighborhood.

See how the City of Tulsa development process “protected” us–or not!

What happened to our petition with over 800 Tulsa resident signatures?

Why were we sued?

What does it mean to win or prevail in court?

Should everyone get a covenant for their neighborhood?

Is Planitulsa Plan really going to help the established neighborhoods?

STAY TUNED!

Last night was the final hearing before the final plan is drawn up. This is following two previous meetings to gather comments and information from the public.

The citizens support of PlaniTulsa is very prominent and enthusiastic. They want this new plan which will take Tulsa to its new position as a very progressive, viable and friendly city. We need this new energy!

Please read the full article and the comments following. You may even add your own comments.

Tulsa World: City-plan hearings issue now nonissue

The following is a letter from Tulsa builder/developer Jamie Jameson with his thoughts about the latest TMAPC public hearing of the PlaniTulsa comprehensive plan for Tulsa.  PreserveMidtown agrees with his assessment of this meeting.  Please read this letter and then write your own letter to TMAPC to show your thoughts about this plan.  See plan at and make comments here www.planitulsa.org There will be a further TMAPC Hearing on March 23 (I’m not sure of the time – you can find this at incog.org). I hope very much you can plan to attend and speak at this – I recommend checking the PlaniTulsa web site to check in to speak, asap.

I will be [unavailable for the March 23 meeting]. I delayed [an event] so that I could be present at and speak at yesterday’s meeting, which I believed would be the last such hearing. As it was, so many people spoke – at length and to good purpose – that I didn’t get to speak. It was a well-run hearing in that many people had their say and the Commissioners took time to engage closely with speakers in detail. The Commissioners handled it pretty well, particularly Bill Leighty and Liz Wright who both asked incisive questions. All the fog of misinformation circulated in recent days evaporated after a series of close questioning by BIll Leighty at the very outset of the hearing. I think it is imperative that the official voice of the Pearl District is heard, from the President at the next hearing. Christine [Booth] did very well, at short notice at the first hearing, and I spoke at that meeting too. We both sat through yesterday’s 3.5 hour hearing, when we could have been doing our day jobs. We now need others to take up the slack.

It’s starkly clear that the homebuilders, realtors and the Chamber, all of whom showed up to complain yesterday, are mounting a serious effort to torpedo key features of PLANiTULSA. They give the impression of having lain in wait for two years.

It looks as if the strategy is to drag out, obfuscate, confuse, conflate, alienate, discredit and ultimately emasculate the Plan to suit a myopic view of their own narrow interests, at the expense of Tulsa and Tulsans. A tactic in this is (i) to show up at the tail-end of the process when normal people have made their contribution to the process, and are at their day jobs, (ii) to gradually wear everyone else out to a point where no one else shows up except them, and (iii) to connive and lobby behind closed doors. They are now variously asking for a 60 or more days delay for their ‘members’ to consider PLANiTULSA’s 200 pages. Never mind that everyone else has already read it. Perhaps – being charitable – they’re just slow readers.

The Chamber, of which I am a long-time and slightly embarrassed member in particular made itself look hopelessly out of touch: it sent a new and floundering employee along to ask for a delay with the flimsiest of rationales. It seemed pretty clear that it’s been ‘got at’ by the Home Builders, who merely succeeded in making the Chamber look stupid – to the extent that the audience laughed at the Chamber’s first utterances. Their representative left early. ‘Mission accomplished’. Engagement Over.

It seems to have escaped these organizations’ notice that their respective, individual members are also Tulsans, who have had the opportunity to engage at any point in the last two years with PLANiTULSA. In fact many individual members such as I have actually done so. I am hoping that the Commissioners, who are an intelligent group of mature people, see through this for the sham – and shame – that it is.

While these respective groups have every right – and indeed duty – to speak at hearings, their seemingly calculated absence from the PLANiTULSA discussion process until the last minute is at best negligent, and at worst cynical, irresponsible and reprehensible. Up to 6,000 other Tulsans like them spent more than two years working on this project, as individuals. Now these organizations think they can come in and over-ride it at the last minute with a torrent of proposed corrections (most of which have actually been accommodated – almost to a fault – by the PLANiTULSA team).

An inspired, progressive, constructive, mature, public process is threatening to turn into a tedious yet predictable struggle of unimaginative, vested interests wishing to preserve a crumbling status quo (characterized by back-room deals, with scant regard to the real world) versus Tulsa’s residents and the true interests of Tulsa and its economic and fiscal viability.

It’s enough to make me want to move to Portland, along with everyone else under 30: the vocabulary there is about progress, adaptation to a radically changing world, innovation, new ideas. Our public policies here in contrast seem orientated around protecting the interests and personal feelings of a bunch of good ole boys whose time has… gone. The intellectual and policy high ground has transferred to the neighborhoods and to hitherto sidelined planners. Philanthropists and tax-payers meanwhile pay for the intellectual deficit – in hard cash.

So I trust you and other neighborhoods will show up and speak on March 23. Whilst the critics of PLANiTULSA were heavily out-numbered yesterday some opponents still haven’t spoken, and will take up their right to do so at the next – and, I trust, final – hearing.

This is, sadly, a fight that in my view will determine whether Tulsa has much of a future.

SPEAK UP AND SUPPORT PLANITULSA! – Today! TMAPC Public Hearing: Wed, 3/10, 1:30-4:30 PM City Hall, 2nd and Cincinnati
Olly, olly, oxen, free!
This is it, folks. Send your email TODAY to show support for PLANiTULSA.
Comments may be sent to: planning@cityoftulsa.org and TMAPC@incog.org.
Better yet, show up in person to speak at today’s TMAPC meeting at City Hall from 1:30 – 4:30 PM.
We know that some members of the development and real estate industry will show up en mass to sway the debate. So it’s important that average citizens voice their support for the plan as written.
Who is this “Miss Information” person?
If you remember the intimidation and mis-information campaign that erupted over neighborhood conservation districts a few years ago, you won’t be surprised that the same groups are trying to muddy the water once again. After the most transparent public process in Tulsa’s history (which has received overwhelming public involvement for the past TWO YEARS), these groups are crying foul: “they haven’t had enough time” to review PLANiTULSA yet!
This is simply a stalling tactic, so they will have time to confuse people about the issues. Alarmist emails are being spread in a last-ditch effort to frighten people, in a lame attempt to change the plan according to their desires. (Copy and paste the same old lies: “It’s a Communist plot! Your property rights will be taken away! Your neighbors will tell you what color to paint your house!”)
Targeting “Areas of Stability.”
The concept of “Areas of Stability” and “Areas of Change” is integral to the PLANiTULSA Land Use plan. It basically states that stable, healthy, and historic neighborhoods shouldn’t expect massive change. The Land Use chapter states:
“Development activities in these areas should be limited to the rehabilitation or improvement of existing homes, or small-scale infill that complements the character of the neighborhood and is consistent in form, scale, rhythm and proportion as seen from the street.”
Sounds pretty straightforward, right?
Certain developers wish to strike this language and replace it with:
“Development activities in these areas should be limited to the rehabilitation, improvement or replacement of existing homes, and small-scale infill projects, as permitted through clear and objective setback, height, and other development standards of the zoning code.”
Subtle, eh? (They already got rid of the statement that infill should take place on empty lots in Areas of Stability.)
Targeting “Classic Neighborhoods”
The Home Builders Association also wants to delete the following section from p. 54 of the Land Use chapter:
“Historic designations are often considered the only way to protect classic neighborhoods; this is a valuable policy tool to preserve a neighborhood’s special qualities. However, most neighborhoods do not meet the requirements necessary to qualify for historic designation. The concept of stability and change is specifically designed to enhance the unique qualities of older neighborhoods that are looking for new ways to preserve their character and quality of life.”
In addition, they keep trying to insert language that supports demolition of homes in areas of stability. (Some folks prefer “re-fill” to “in-fill” development. And they would prefer to build McMansions in Brookside than transformative new development in areas of change.)
Targeting Small Area Planning & Public Input
The HBA also appears to oppose Small Area planning…and public input of all kinds. (No shock, no awe.) Indeed, their comments repeatedly attempt to DELETE references to Small Area Planning!
Here’s a Land Use Goal that they want to see deleted:
5.3 Create a robust and meaningful public involvement process that emphasizes long-term consensus rather than project-by-project evaluation and approval. • Develop and use a standard small area or neighborhood planning process to develop a long-range vision for new centers, neighborhoods, and areas in need of revitalization and reinvestment. • Design the small area and neighborhood planning process to maximize local public input and identify key implementation steps. The resulting plans should reflect neighborhood needs and desires and support citywide Vision and goals. • Small area or neighborhood planning process shall result in an implementable plan and a clear land use program that enables build-by-right zoning standards for desired buildings and uses.
Unnecessary Road Widening
Other issues for debate include INCOG’s desire to add several miles (hundreds of millions of $) for road widening to the plan. (PLANiTULSA recommends the use of new intersection technology that would improve traffic flow at a fraction of the cost, and make street widening unnecessary.)
If one developer doesn’t like something…
The great thing about PLANiTULSA is that you can see exactly who is lobbying for changes to the plan.
View the public comments that were submitted between March 5-9:
View the items for TMAPC debate:

Be informed. Stay involved. Speak up!
If you would like to speak at the TMAPC meeting, be sure to read the Procedures for TMAPC Public Hearings on PLANiTULSA
Citizens are encouraged to sign up ahead of time to speak at the public hearings by calling (918) 576-5684.
You can also submit comments in lieu of testimony at the public hearing. These comments should include your name and contact information.
Email your comments to:
planning@cityoftulsa.org and TMAPC@INCOG.org
MORE INFO: www.planitulsa.org

Give us a shout! Got something to include in the TulsaNow e-newsletter? Send us an email. We will try to publish any information that is pertinent to the mission of TulsaNow. Submit information to: newsletter@tulsanow.org.

Post Your Event on the TulsaNow Calendar! There is so much going on in Tulsa, we can’t keep track of it all. Thousands of people visit the TulsaNow web site each week. Post your meetings, happenings, and events on the TulsaNow calendar and help us keep Tulsans informed of what’s going on in our community! For information on posting, click here. Check out the TulsaNow Calendar !
TulsaNow is a grassroots, non-profit organization working to help Tulsa reach its full potential. We encourage civic participation by providing people with the information they need to get educated, get involved, and make a positive impact on Tulsa. Our goal? To help Tulsa become the most vibrant, diverse, sustainable and prosperous city of its size.
It’s time…for TulsaNow!