Tulsa Zoning: January 2026 Archives

On Monday, January 12, 2026, at a special meeting at the NSU-BA Administrative Services Building, the Broken Arrow City Council will consider a zoning amendment that would allow construction of a development that would include the Tulsa area's fourth mosque and the first in a Tulsa suburb. Many citizens are upset about it and want to see the council deny the application, but it's important to understand the technicalities of the zoning process and what discretion the City Council has.

The City Council does not have to accept the recommendation of planning staff and can weigh many different factors when deciding to change the zoning ordinance. On the other hand, the appearance that the decision was arbitrary and capricious or illegally discriminatory can expose the council to lawsuits, and a legal judgment against the city would be repaid from the sinking fund, which would be replenished by a property tax increase. Here is a description of municipal zoning powers from an article on the Oklahoma Bar Association website:

There are some very basic legal standards to consider when advising a planning commission, governing body or private client. One of the most important is that the Oklahoma Supreme Court has consistently held that unless a zoning decision of a municipality is found not to have a substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals or general welfare or to constitute an unreasonable, arbitrary exercise of the police power, its judgments will not be overturned by the district court. Also, courts may not substitute their judgment for that of the municipal legislative body. The court's duty will be to determine whether the restriction on the use of the property is a reasonable exercise of power under the zoning statute. When the validity of a legislative classification for zoning purposes is fairly debatable, legislative judgments must be allowed to stand.

One significant case upholding this principle is Clary v. Oklahoma City, in which the Oklahoma Supreme Court affirmed the district court's ruling that upheld the city's decision to deny rezoning a single-family home in a residential area for commercial use, finding the question of appropriate zoning as "fairly debatable" and therefore within the city's discretion.

On December 18, 2025, the Broken Arrow Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the zoning change and the conditional-use permit for a place of assembly, file number 25-1766. (Video of the meeting is available here. After public comment, the discussion among the planning commissioners starts about four-and-a-half hours into the meeting. The vote is at about 4 hrs. 50 mins.) The proposal would rezone a 15-acre parcel on the east side of Olive just south of the Creek Turnpike from AG (Agricultural) to CG (Commercial General) and FD (Floodplain), and then would grant a conditional-use permit to allow a place of assembly on a CG-zoned parcel. The two issues are separate, but the second issue is dependent on the first: The zoning change could be granted and the conditional-use permit denied. The Planning Commission voted 4-1 to recommend the rezoning to CG (Robert Goranson, Jason Coan, Jaylee Klempa, Jonathan Townsend voting yes, Mindy Payne, voting no). The conditional-use permit passed 3-2, the three men (Goranson, Coan, Townsend) voting yes and the two women (Klempa and Payne) voting no; Goranson added a stipulation against broadcasts and announcements on the exterior of the facility (public safety excepted) to his motion to approve the Conditional Use Permit. From the Planning Commission agenda item:

BAZ-002469-2025 is a request to change the zoning designation of 15.08 acres from AG (Agricultural) to CG (Commercial General) and FD (Floodplain). The property is located approximately ½ mile north of Tucson Street (121st Street) and just east of Olive Avenue (129th E. Avenue). The Creek Turnpike and its interchange with Olive Avenue is north of this property.

The proposed development will have access from Olive Avenue. This property is Comprehensive Plan Level 6, which supports a rezoning to CG. The proposed development includes a commercial retail center along the frontage of the property, the Islamic Center in the center portion. The rear portion of the property is partially floodplain and is planned for a retention pond and vacant land. A Conditional Use Permit for a place of assembly is also a part of this item for consideration.

Parking requirements for places of assembly are 1 parking space per 4 seats in assembly area or 1 per 100 sq ft in meeting area without seats. The conceptual development layout details 726 total parking spaces, however, the final number will be determined and approved in the site plan review process for both the Islamic Center and the retail
development....

According to FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer, the rear portion of the property features an area of 100-year flood plain. That area is planned to remain undeveloped currently. All developments will follow floodplain development requirements as set forth by the City of Broken Arrow and FEMA.

All surrounding properties are currently zoned AG. Immediately to the south is Walnut Grove Church, pastored by David Ingles, founder of the Oasis Radio Network. The other surrounding parcels are vacant and wooded. The driveway to The Property Event Center is right across the street.

City planning staff, who review each zoning amendment, recommended approval of the proposal.

Recommendation:

Based upon the Comprehensive Plan, the location of the property, and the surrounding land uses, Staff recommends that BAZ-002469-2025 and SP-002526-2025 be approved subject to the property being platted.

Reviewed by: Jane Wyrick

Approved by: Rocky Henkel

The Broken Arrow Comprehensive Plan Future Development Guide Map designates the parcel as Level 6, Regional Employment/Commercial, while the areas to the south are Level 3, Transitional. The conceptual site plan, which is not binding in any way, shows the existing pond remaining, with a septic field next to it. The 20,700 retail strip along 129th East Avenue is shown as "future," while the 23,764 sq. ft. mosque is "Phase 1."

The description of Level 6:

Level 6 represents an opportunity to develop regionally significant and highway oriented commercial and employment nodes in Broken Arrow. The Level 6 classification is for a mixture of medium to high intensity commercial and employment uses in the vicinity of major transportation corridors. Nodes along Elm Place, Aspen Avenue, and Kenosha Street, as well as key interchanges along the Broken Arrow Expressway and the Creek Turnpike, are all appropriate areas for Level 6 development. Typical uses could include large shopping centers, big box retailers, commercial, automotive, and office/employment centers.

The Future Development Guide Map shows a half-mile-wide, 2.5-mile-long swath of Level 6 along the Creek Turnpike, extending to both sides, from Florence (111th Street S.) at about 121st East Ave to Elm Place (161st East Ave). This area already includes a Walmart Supercenter, Regal Warren Theater, Reasor's, and a collection of fast-food restaurants. The obvious intention is to have a continuous corridor of car-oriented sales-tax generating businesses along this high-capacity corridor to serve and encourage residential development on Broken Arrow's south side. I've outlined the site of the proposed mosque development in red.

The Transportation Plan Map shows a frontage road that would parallel the turnpike on the south side and allow more of the corridor to be developed commercially; it would likely cut through the property. This road has been cited as a reason to deny the rezoning. (If Broken Arrow wants the possibility of building this road in the future, they had better begin acquiring the right-of-way.)

While there is a church just to the south, it is in the Level 3 transition area, and not in Level 6, and it is well south of the proposed frontage road. Those subtle differences would warrant somewhat different treatment.

At the Planning Commission meeting, State Sen. Christi Gillespie, a member of the Broken Arrow City Council prior to her election to the State Senate last year, argued for denial based on land use planning, transportation planning, and economic development concerns. She posted video of her remarks on Facebook.

Gillespie reminded the planning commissioners that the staff recommendation for approval did not bind their freedom to exercise their own judgment. The same thing is true for the City Council: The Planning Commission has made a recommendation for approval, and the City Council has the discretion to deny.

Gillespie pointed out that, "Everything we depend on in Broken Arrow to have quality of life depends on sales tax." The Olive (129th East Ave) exit is the first BA exit on the Creek Turnpike when coming from the west, which makes it a strategic location for highway-visible retail businesses to capture dollars from south and east Tulsa residents.

Regarding the conditional use permit required to allow a place of assembly on the site, Gillespie noted that there would be three places of assembly within a quarter-mile -- Walnut Grove to the south and The Property Event Center to the west, making three large parcels at this key exit that would not be generating sales tax. The future "measly 20,000 square foot strip center would not begin to offset sales tax lost to this development. Honestly, the applicant -- they acted that they didn't even want to do it, and it wasn't even their idea." I suspect either their land-use attorney or BA planning staff suggested adding the retail strip to the drawing to improve the application's chances for approval.

Gillespie reminded the commissioners that Broken Arrow has a precedent for not permitting concentrations of places of assembly. A commenter on Gillespie's video named Clint Babb stated that when a church sought to occupy the former Reasor's on the east side of Elm south of New Orleans (101st St.), the city council denied their application, despite the church including a strip of small shops across the frontage of the building. The city had invested a considerable amount of money into reviving the vintage 1980s retail node now known as New Orleans Square, and they didn't want to see yet another large retail space (originally a 72,000 sq. ft. K-Mart, which opened in 1979) at the intersection occupied by a non-sales-tax-generating use. (I subsequently learned that this was Millennial Church, according to State Sen. Dana Prieto, a member of the church.)

The septic field shown on the concept drawing, and no plan to connect to the city sewer system, was another red flag for the state senator.

Finally, Gillespie called attention to the Creek Turnpike frontage roads shown on the Comprehensive Plan. This proposed development wouldn't allow that road to be built. If the frontage road is blocked, there will be no access from Olive to any business that wants to locate on the S side of the highway; it will have to be accessed from Tucson (121st Street South), putting traffic pressure on that road and on the 121st Street & Olive intersection.

Gillespie concluded: "My goal is to ensure we have a common-sense economic development plan for my district. This development does not comply with the Comprehensive Plan, nor does it make business sense for the inevitable growth between Aspen and Olive. It's for these reasons that you have no choice but to vote no."

This case against the zoning proposal is not a pretext to discriminate against a particular religion but stands on its own based on the city's interest to encourage and not impede retail development along this strategic corridor. Sen. Gillespie said that even if it were her own church proposing to build on the site, she would oppose it for the reasons stated.

It's been too long ago to find the case, but circa 1991, when Christ Presbyterian Church sought to plant a satellite campus in Broken Arrow, they attempted to rent space in the retail strip on the NE corner of Aspen and Albany (145th East Ave. and 61st St.). The city rejected their permit because a church in that location would have made the cocktail lounge at the Holiday Inn (now the Clarion) illegal because of spacing requirements around a church.