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Pearl District, Crosbie Heights still waiting for answers on eminent domain

Tonight at 5:30 pm, Tulsa District 4 City Councilor Kara Joy McKee is hosting a"2020 Priorities Visioning and Pie Party" at Will Rogers High School. This is an opportunity to support the preservation of the Pearl District and oppose eminent domain abuse, not only in the Central Park Place subdivision,...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 27, 2020 12:25 PM

Save the Pearl Coalition launched

A press release issued on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, announced the organization of a group to rescue Paul Harvey's childhood neighborhood from demolition for redevelopment under the guise of stormwater management. Save the Pearl: New Group Formed to Oppose Tulsa Development Authority's Eminent Domain Plans A community in Tulsa joins...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 13, 2019 7:50 PM

Institute for Justice warns of Tulsa eminent domain abuse with Elm Creek West Pond takings

Prior to yesterday's meeting concerning the Elm Creek West Pond in Paul Harvey's old neighborhood, the Institute for Justice issued a media advisory: HEARING: Tulsa Residents Protest City's Attempt To Take Their Homes Using Eminent Domain For Redevelopment Project Today, the city of Tulsa has scheduled a public meeting with...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 15, 2019 5:17 PM

Elm Creek West Pond meeting: after-action review

This will be brief, as I'm worn out. Over 100 people turned out for tonight's meeting between city officials and contractors and neighborhood residents to discuss the Elm Creek West Pond, a stormwater detention facility which would wipe out Paul Harvey's childhood home and his neighborhood, using eminent domain to...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 14, 2019 11:02 PM

Paul Harvey remembers Tulsa and his neighborhood

In March 1994, national radio commentator Paul Harvey, whose thrice-daily broadcasts were carried on over 1400 stations nationwide on the ABC radio network, reaching an audience in the tens of millions, returned to Tulsa to speak at a Salvation Army benefit. After his visit, he spoke on the air about...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 13, 2019 9:50 PM

Pearl District detention pond public meeting, Monday, October 14, 2019

Tulsa District 4 City Councilor Kara Joy McKee is hosting a public meeting on Monday, October 14, 2019, at the Central Center at Centennial Park, 1028 E 6th St, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74120, from 6 pm to 8 pm, to discuss the planned Elm Creek West stormwater detention pond. The City...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 7, 2019 11:12 PM

Tulsa detention pond threatens Paul Harvey's neighborhood

A stormwater detention pond planned by the City of Tulsa is displacing owners of historic homes, affecting Paul Harvey's childhood neighborhood.

Posted by Michael Bates on September 24, 2019 10:46 PM

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

Pearl District plan on TMAPC agenda today, September 5, 2012

The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission will cast its final vote today, September 5, 2012, on the Pearl District Association's request for a form-based land use ordinance covering the neighborhood. The new rules governing the Pearl District would be phased in to replace the existing use-based zoning code. The Pearl...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 5, 2012 9:05 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

Maurice Kanbar mystery; downtown Tulsa's private clubs; Pearl District progress

Jennie Lloyd makes her debut this week as the new city reporter for Urban Tulsa Weekly with two interesting stories about downtown Tulsa, past, present, and future. The first is about the mysterious goings-on involving the massive portfolio of downtown buildings owned by Maurice Kanbar, for example: In December 2010,...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 22, 2011 12:59 AM

How the "Great Divide" damages Tulsa neighborhoods

Here's a very insightful comment by someone with the handle "innercityartisan," posted next to my column about the PLANiTULSA small-area workshop for Forest Orchard, about the way expressways and other barriers to pedestrian and auto traffic on surface streets can blight a neighborhood. It also provides a picture of living...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 1, 2009 5:28 PM

Woonerf-ul, woonerf-ul

Some linkage related to my most recent Urban Tulsa Weekly column about the innovative, grassroots-driven approach to solving the Pearl District's stormwater problem: The Pearl District Association website: Well organized website with plenty of information about the neighborhood's plans for the future. Guy Engineering's page for the Elm Creek Master...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 22, 2009 11:32 PM