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Tulsa zoning code draft: My comments

Just under the wire, I submitted my comments a week ago Saturday on the draft for public comment of the proposed zoning code for the City of Tulsa. This is a critical document for Tulsa's future, far more important than the debate over water-in-the-river. The current zoning code is nearly...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 15, 2015 11:22 AM

Pearl District rezoning proposals: Approval courts public cynicism

In less than an hour the Tulsa City Council will consider three zoning proposals to take specific properties out of the Pearl District Form Based Code -- which gives property owners a great deal of flexibility as to their use -- and place them under specific traditional zoning classifications....

Posted by Michael Bates on August 21, 2014 5:24 PM

Form-based codes, historic preservation design guidelines on TMAPC agenda

Today's (July 11, 2012) meeting of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (TMAPC) includes these two items near the very end of the agenda, under "Other Business": 21. Review and discuss the Tulsa Preservation Commission Design Guidelines Updates for Residential Structures and Non-Residential and Mixed-Use Structures within Historic Preservation Overlay...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 11, 2012 11:35 AM

QuikTrip's attempted street-snatching: Will it be stopped?

UPDATE 2012/05/04: The answer is no, by a 5-4 vote to approve the PUD "amendment" and close the street. Thanks to Councilors Blake Ewing, Karen Gilbert, Skip Steele, and G. T. Bynum for upholding the plan and the notion of public infrastructure for public use over the demands of a...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 3, 2012 12:18 PM

Keeping the promise to the Pearl District

UPDATE 2012/04/03: The City of Tulsa Planning Department has issued a "policy analysis" of the Pearl District regulating plan, "a supplemental review of adopted plans of the City intended to provide the Planning Commission with a full understanding of the issues and policies created to address them." Attached at the...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 2, 2012 7:58 PM

Small area planning kickoff, Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The City of Tulsa Planning Department will officially launch three small area plans this coming Tuesday night, February 28, 2012, at 6 p.m., at the Greenwood Cultural Center, 322 N. Greenwood Ave, in Tulsa. (Doors open at 5:30, the program will go from 6 to 7, followed by Q &...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 24, 2012 11:34 PM

TulsaNow 10th anniversary reception tonight

The organization TulsaNow will celebrate its 10th anniversary tonight, July 15, 2011, with a reception at Harwelden, 2210 S. Main. Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres from Lambrusco'z at 5:30, presentation begins at 6. The organization will unveil plans for the future and will hand out a few awards to the winners...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 15, 2011 12:05 PM

INCOG is not TMAPC -- once more again s-l-o-w-l-y

There's a good article by Mike Easterling in the brand new edition of Urban Tulsa Weekly about the possibility that the City of Tulsa will establish its own in-house planning capability to replace the work it currently outsources to the Development Services department of the Indian Nations Council of Government...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 2, 2011 6:46 PM

Hot, to my surprise; Wright out

Thanks to Urban Tulsa Weekly staff for their kind words in naming me once again to the paper's annual "Hot 100" list. I'm pleased, too, to see great Tulsans like restaurant entrepreneur Blake Ewing, developer/urbanist Jamie Jamieson, and architect Shelby Navarro on the list. Tulsa city planner Theron Warlick is...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 9, 2011 8:39 PM

PLANiTULSA final draft; final hearing June 15, 2010

No, I haven't gotten completely absorbed in the upcoming elections. I haven't forgotten PLANiTULSA. But my last few nights have been short, so I'll keep this short and get some sleep. The final draft of the PLANiTULSA comprehensive plan was released earlier this week. There are actually nine separate PDF...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 10, 2010 12:40 AM

Cato fellow to speak on comprehensive planning

Cato Institute senior fellow Randal O'Toole will speak in Tulsa on Saturday, April 24, 2010, 1:30 p.m., on the topic of comprehensive planning. The talk is sponsored by Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise (OK-SAFE) and will be held at the Hardesty Library, 8316 E. 93rd St. The event is...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 16, 2010 10:25 AM

PLANiTULSA: Wither INCOG?

A commenter on another website noticed that I hadn't said anything about behind-the-scenes machinations by the INCOG -- the Indian Nations Council of Governments -- to modify the PLANiTULSA vision and policy plan, particularly the part that recommends that the City of Tulsa bring in-house the planning functions it currently...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 29, 2010 12:26 PM

PLANiTULSA TMAPC hearing reaction

I wasn't able to attend the March 23, 2010, TMAPC hearing in person, but I watched the last hour or so of the hearing on TGOVonline.org. The on-demand version should be posted in a couple of days. I submitted an email comment in response to an impassioned speech that seemed...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 25, 2010 5:39 AM

Last (?) TMAPC hearing on PLANiTULSA tonight; small area plans

Tonight, March 23, 2010, starting at 6 pm, is what may be the final session of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission's public hearing on PLANiTULSA, Tulsa's first comprehensive plan in a generation. If not everyone can be heard who wishes to speak, the TMAPC has the option to continue...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 23, 2010 5:22 PM

PLANiTULSA notebook: Denver, small-area planning in areas of stability

Before coming to Tulsa, Fregonese Associates consulted on a new comprehensive plan for Denver, called Blueprint Denver. It's interesting to see that some of what the homebuilders want excised from PLANiTULSA was adopted in Denver. On the main Blueprint Denver page, the following is listed as the first of three...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 20, 2010 1:10 PM

PLANiTULSA: My comments to the TMAPC

Here is the text of my email to the TMAPC, submitted prior to the March 10, 2010, public hearing on PLANiTULSA. I also spoke to the TMAPC at that hearing, which you can view at TGOV Online. My remarks begin at 2:46:30.My list of five key qualities of an ideal...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 20, 2010 8:40 AM

PLANiTULSA notebook: Protecting the integrity of the process

In addition to the lovely winter storm we're enjoying on the first day of spring, there's a storm swirling around PLANiTULSA, Tulsa's first comprehensive plan since the late '70s. After almost two years of public input from thousands of Tulsans, the PLANiTULSA policy plan, vision document, and land use...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 20, 2010 7:20 AM

TMAPC & PLANiTULSA: The hearing and the delayers

I spoke at Wednesday's TMAPC public hearing on PLANiTULSA, Tulsa's first comprehensive plan in a generation. I haven't had time to write my thoughts on the event, but my friend Jamie Jamieson copied me on an email to a Pearl District neighborhood leader. He did a fine job describing yesterday's...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 11, 2010 6:55 PM

Dear TMAPC, please don't dismember PLANiTULSA

Today is the final public hearing before the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission for adoption of the PLANiTULSA vision and policy documents as Tulsa's first comprehensive plan in a generation. The hearing is in the City Council chambers today at 1:30, and I urge you either to attend and speak...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 10, 2010 8:36 AM

Tulsa Realtor Martha Thomas Cobb on historic preservation zoning

URGENT UPDATE: I've heard that Ms. Cobb sent an email blast that's generating some panicked comments attacking PLANiTULSA. If her email is as misinformative as her remarks to the TMAPC (see below), her influence will need to be countered by those who have actually read the PLANiTULSA policy plan and...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 9, 2010 7:35 AM