Preserve Midtown

     It may come as a surprise to learn that Tulsa is one of the nation’s premier centers of art deco architecture, putting it in the classy company of Miami Beach, New York, and Los Angeles, stated Wayne Curtis of the National Trust.  Mr. Curtis spent 3 days with local architect Rex Ball, Marty Newman, Lee Ann Ziglar and Amanda DeCort touring our Tulsa Art Deco stars.
     Tulsa fell in love with deco and, after a brief estrangement, appears poised for a second honeymoon. “It means lively, it means young, it means different,” says Ball, noting that it reflects the vibrancy of Tulsa’s rebirth. “It’s a spirit and a way of life that are coming back.”

To read more about our Art Deco heritage, go to Tulsa’s Deco Gems

Congratulations to Brady Heights for being named by This Old House online as one of the 15 best places in the US for retirees to find a good old house.

This Old House has been a very popular program on PBS television which takes older homes across the US and renovates them into up to date homes.  Those homes that are sometimes referred to as “eyesores” do have great value with some time and effort put in to make them shine like they did when they were new.

To read more about Brady Heights, go to the This Old House Article

It saddens me to tell you that the TMAPC has decided not to study the benefits of the proposed conservation district ordinance.

The TMAPC has decided that they do not want to “step on” Fregonese’s toes by continuing their review process.  They are leaving conservation districts for the Fregonese planning group to deal with.

Where does this leave supporters of the conservation districts who need this tool to help them preserve their older neighborhoods?

If you would like to let the planning commission know your views on this development, send email directed to all TMAPC Commissioners to bhuntzinger@incog.org.  One email will be sent to all commissioners.

You can also let your city councilman know how you feel about this development.  He is representing you and your needs.

It has been reported that our signs are being stolen from some of our supporter’s yards.  If this has happened to you, please email us your name and address and we will replace your sign.

Many thanks for your support!

     A new group, Brookside–Home of Neighbors and  Friends, has requested help from Brookside and other Tulsa area residents who would like to express their views regarding the proposed Bomasada project at 39th and Rockford abutting this Brookside residential neighborhood with a petition and action.  After sitting last Wednesday from 1:30 pm until 10:00 pm  to present their case against this mammoth project, concerned homeowners were allowed only three minutes each to state their positions.  At this very late hour, they were rejected by the TMAPC and the project was given a green light. The next step is the City Council.

     Please go to Enclave Petition Information to learn more and access this petition.  Laura Collins is spearheading this effort and lives across the street from this project on Rockford.

Many Brookside resident homeowners, business owners  and  city Urban Design staff meet together over several years to complete  the  Brookside Infill  Study Plan.  It was completed in May, 2002 and  “action  taken” in December, 2002.  However, it was never adopted into the  current  zoning plan.  We are providing copies of the residential infill  part of  this plan for you to read and study.  Ask your city councilor why this plan was not enacted into  our current zoning plan.  View the Design Policies for the infill here.

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.

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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

In the carbon cycle, it’s not just about the individual tree-the entire forest plays a role. Leaves take in carbon dioxide, converting it to sugar, which is carbon-based. Some of the sugar is used immediately for energy, converted back to CO2, and released into the atmosphere. The rest is stored in living wood or dead matter, such as fallen leaves and branches. Old-growth forests, in particular, store vast amounts of carbon while continuing to absorb CO2.

See a full color chart of how a tree works in our environment and learn about their value to the balance of our planet.

Go to:  http://www.onearth.org/article/the-carbon-exchange

Go to the following Batesline website to listen to Michael Bates discuss Conservation Districts with Darryl Baskin on 1170 AM radio KFAQ.  Learn more about this new idea for Tulsa land use planning.                                                                      http://www.batesline.com/archives/2008/03/neighborhood-conservation-distri.html