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 & A.)

The targeted areas are Utica Ave between 11th and 21st Streets in Midtown (District 4), 36th Street North in north Tulsa (District 1), and Tulsa Hills / West Highlands in southwest Tulsa (District 2). Each of these areas faces unique development challenges. Along the Utica corridor, you have a conflict because there are developers (not the hospitals) who want to intrude into designated historic preservation neighborhoods (Swan Lake and Yorktown) to build medical office buildings and other commercial development.

There are also the expansion aims of the hospitals. At 11th and Utica there's Hillcrest, expanding into the surrounding Terrace Drive and Forest Orchard neighborhoods without much resistance and without much thought to pedestrian-friendly design or the appearance of the Route 66 frontage.

At 21st and Utica, St. John Medical Center has brought in Atlanta planning firm Perkins + Will, evidently in search of a smart, urban solution that protects the historic neighborhoods while meeting St. John's needs. Perkins + Will principal David Green and planner Heather Alhadeff led a meeting back on January 21st at the Central Center in Centennial Park to which neighborhood leaders were invited. Green and Alhadeff's presentation was an informative overview of the history of land use planning, and led me to feel that St. John's paying to have them involved was a sign of good faith from the hospital. Their only misstep, for which they apologized profusely, was using "PLANiTULSA in the promotional material for the meeting, making it appear that the hospital-sponsored event had some official city standing.

This small area planning kickoff on February 28 is, however, an official city meeting. From the city's press release:

These are the first three Small Area Plans to be conducted since the adoption and approval of the PLANiTULSA Comprehensive Plan. Small Area Planning is an important component in implementing this plan, and as with PLANiTULSA, citizen input is an important part of that process.

This event is open to the public and will include a concise, informative program about the Small Area Planning process and time for Q and A.