Preserve Midtown

Protecting America’s Historic Neighborhoods:
Taming the Teardown Trend

Wednesday, May 28
6 o’clock
Harwelden Mansion
2210 South Main
Tulsa

Using examples from across the country, Jim Lindberg will describe the scope and impact of the teardown trend.

He will explain the forces behind it, and offer suggestions for how
neighborhoods and communities can foster sustainable growth without sacrificing historic character.

Jim Lindberg is the Director of Preservation Initiatives in the Mountain/Plains Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  He is the author of numerous articles and co-author of three books on historic preservation.  Mr. Lindberg lives in Denver.

Free and Open to the Public
Information and Reservations
info@preservok.org
(918) 583.5550

Sponsors
Preservation Oklahoma
Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office
Kirkpatrick Foundation
Oklahoma’s Most Endangered Historic Places Program

Co-Sponsors
Tulsa Foundation for Architecture
Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa

Dear Neighbors,

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!!

I am giving you a heads up NOW that there will be a Brookside Neighborhood Association open meeting to provide  information and discussion regarding the proposed Bomasada Mid-Rise (4-story) Apartment and Parking Garage Proposal at  39th Street and Rockford Avenue

ON Monday,  MAY 19TH AT  5:30 P.M. AT  Wright  Elementary  School.

The developer of Bomasada has applied for rezoning this property for a higher density classification  – RM-3.

They are asking for a variance in height and setbacks. This property is currently RM-1/RM-2 — low to medium density.

This proposed change of zoning will set a precedent for future development in our community!

The impact on the families living along 39th Street and Rockford Avenue will be tremendously disruptive and will certainly result in changing the traffic along the 41st and Peoria shopping area.

You deserve to have an opportunity to learn about this proposed change and lend your voice in deciding this matter.

The City didn’t listen when they OK’d the Albertson’s food store.  Will they listen this time?

Let’s exercise our right to have a say in representative government.

I hope that many of you will be able to come and listen, ask questions and speak your mind.  You don’t have to be a member of BNA to attend this.   If you live in the Brookside area and care about the future of our community, then you should come and participate.

(more…)

Join Mayor Kathy Taylor for the citywide launch of PlaniTulsa:

Tuesday May 13, 2008 4:30 to 6:30 pm.                               Location: Central Center at Centennial Park, 1028 E. 6th St. (6th & Peoria)

5 pm- Presentation by Mayor Taylor and nationally renowned community planner, John Fregonese

PlaniTulsa is the process of updating our comprehensive plan.

“Someone has to make sure that Tulsa grows in a healthy new way.  And we want that someone to be YOU.”

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.

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.

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
   

Ridge Pointe homeowners are trying to protect the safety and serenity in their community!  They are objecting to a change in the commercial development adjacent to their neighborhood from a planned high-end, small shop style center to a “big box” Target Superstore.

They need our help to convince those on the TMAPC board that this is an inapproriate change.  They want the commercial development that was originally on the development plans. 

Please keep on sending the letters and don’t forget to cc incog@incog.org  and Councillor Bill Christiansen as well
dist8@tulsacouncil.org.
Remember: Attend the T.M.A.P.C. Meeting rescheduled for Wednesday, February 20, 2008.
More information is available on the website www.ridgepointe.us

As always thank you all very much for your support.

Learn more about TulsaNow, our plans for 2008, and how to get involved by joining us at our Annual Meeting!What: TulsaNow Annual Meeting
When: Wednesday, February 13, 5:30 PM
Where: Topeca Coffee Shop
Address: Mayo Hotel, 115 West 5th Street, Suite 169

Woo Hoo! Preserve Midtown is number 39!

“Our Hot 100 are the sparks, the catalysts, the nuclear fission, that drives Tulsa.  Some are self-made, some inherited their positions, some just found themselves in the right place at the right time with the right idea and passion to carry it out.

And for Tulsa, these are the people and organizations who make it happen 365/24/7.

Their passion is growth and development, righting wrongs, seeking truth and justice, usually, the American Way.  Super women and men and corporate citizens who see thinks in black and white, shades of gray and all the colors of the rainbow.”

Read more about all the “Hot 100″ in this week’s issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly, http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/index