Forum and Panel Discussion October 16

Preserve Midtown, in association with the Coalition of Historic Neighborhoods of Tulsa, is pleased to announce our first forum and panel discussion, "Taming the Teardown: A Moratorium to Save our Heritage". The forum will be Tuesday, October 16 at 7:00 pm, at All Souls Unitarian Church, 2952 S. Peoria in Tulsa. Guest presenters Amanda De Cort, Guy De Verges and Steve Novick will speak on the economics of teardowns, environmental consequences, and conservation districting. Stephanie De Verges, MPA will moderate. Additional panelists and guests will include Michelle Cantrell of TMAPC, District 9 City Councilor Cason Carter and District 4 City Councilor Maria Barnes. Please join us, listen, learn, express your views. And if you haven't yet, please sign our petition!

Lessons I Have Learned in Infill Building

By Phil Marshall, Longtime Tulsa Builder and Current TMAPC Board Member 1. The number one challenge is "Getting Along With The Neighbors." Ask your workers to: * Be courteous to the neighbors of your project. * Bring all problems to you. * Keep on-site music low. * Park trucks and cars on one side of the street. * Keep work site reasonably quiet. * Keep the building site clean and pick up trash. * Ask to enter a neighbor's yard when necessary to do so. * Be mindful that we are interrupting the neighbors "Quality of Life." 2. Communication with your neighbors is especially important in the building industry. * Introduce yourself to the neighbors and give them your business card. * Let them know you want to know about any problems and will try to solve them. * Discuss the demolition process with them. * Discuss the new house plans including square footage, style, scale, height, setbacks and number of stories. * Share your understanding of the inconveniences they will endure. * You are required to have a port-a-john on-site and know it is unsightly. * A good attitude will go a long way in keeping a good relationship with the neighborhood. 3. Other challenges that are unique to Infill building: * With smaller lots available, it takes longer to build an infill house. * Walk the site and confirm if additional site work needs to be done. * Check the Floodplain Map Atlas for this property. If this property is in a floodplain, the City will have rules to be followed. * Existing overhead electric lines may be a problem. * Locate water and sewer connections. * It is very important to consider drainage. You must not discharge more water onto the neighbors yard than was previously discharged. * Research the property carefully for existing recorded and unrecorded easements, restrictive covenants and zoning. Midtown Infill building used to be a niche market, but not anymore. There were 4-5 builders not too long ago. Now there are 25! Infill building is very satisfying when you build a house from the ground up and customers cannot tell whether it is new or been there for 50 years. That is when you did your job by fitting the house into the neighborhood. This article was adapted from a presentation Phil Marshall gave at a Builder's Conference in Spring, 2007 at OSU/Tulsa campus. This is an important example of how neighborhoods and builders can work together.

Channel 8 reports on spreading campaign

NewsChannel 8 reporter Jerry Giordano interviewed Preserve Midtown founder Barbara VanHanken on the campaign, which is growing in momentum. Over 200 people have so far signed the petition. Click to play.

Tulsa World takes notice

Preserve Midtown founders Patty Southmayd, Barbara VanHanken and Melissa Waller discussed the campaign with the Tulsa World today. Click here to read the full article.

Warning Signs of a Neighborhood At Risk

Don't get caught by surprise. Some things to look out for: 1. A home is put up for sale. 2. A builder buys the home. 3. A home is needing some maintenance or looks unkept. 4. There is an empty lot. 5. After a builder buys a home, he puts it up for rent. All of these events can lead to teardowns and inappropriate infill. Sometimes, it will include a lot split: two homes are built where one once stood. Join your neighborhood association, draft a covenant with your neighbors and keep vigilant!

Channel 6 covers clash on 38th St

The News on 6 at 9 on CW 12/19's anchor Jennifer Loren reported on the controversy in the Peaceful Terwilleger Acres neighborhood.

A Midtown McMansion looms over neighbors

Here, at 3129 E 27th St, a modest 50s/60s ranch-style house was leveled and replaced. The new house dwarfs its neighbors: the roofline is more than twice as high as any of its neighbors. All the landscaping, except one single tree, was sacrificed to make room. Despite their grand appearance, homes like this are typically constructed with surprisingly fragile materials. Masonite siding is commonplace, and when water finds a seam, the material swells and rots rapidly. New homeowners are typically surprised by the maintenance required to keep their houses from deteriorating.

What is INCOG?

INCOG describes itself as "a voluntary association of local governments serving Creek, Osage, Tulsa, Rogers, and Wagoner counties." Why is it needed? "Today’s communities face problems whose solutions often exceed the reach of a single local government." So, to fill the gap between our City Councilors' stubby limbs in City Hall and the neighborhood plats across the plaza, INCOG "provides local and regional planning, information, coordination, communications, implementation and management services...The council of governments is not a unit of government, but a voluntary association that comes together to build consensus in solutions to regional problems." So, "requests for zoning and land division changes for Tulsa and unincorporated areas of Tulsa County are handled by the Land Development Services Division...The staff makes recommendations to the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, an advisory board to the Tulsa City Council and Tulsa County Commission. After proper zoning is acquired, Land Development Services staff processes the platting of the tract, if necessary. "These two services help ensure that the area develops according to approved guidelines. The staff also processes requests for zoning variances and special exceptions for the Tulsa City and County Boards of Adjustment." Makes sense. In theory, INCOG would be better insulated from special interest group pressure. Lest we think they are too removed, too undemocratic, unaccountable: "Citizens have a voice in the planning process through the Public Participation Program. For example, neighborhood associations are notified of rezoning and board of adjustment issues in their areas. Planning teams composed of members of neighborhood associations provide advice to the TMAPC on the Comprehensive Plan, zoning applications related to the plan and the capital improvements process." Their agendas are posted on their website here. Members are below; Executive Committee members are marked with an asterisk.

Maria Barnes	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
Tex Bayouth	City Manager	City of Hominy
Roger Boomer	Commissioner	Creek County
Ray Bowen	Mayor	City of Bixby
Clarence Brantley	Commissioner	Osage County
Robert F. Breuning	Citizen	Tulsa County Towns
Shayne Buchanan	Mayor	City of Glenpool
Mike Burdge	City Council Member	City of Sand Springs
Johnny Burke	Commissioner	Creek County
Cason Carter	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
Richard Carter, Vice Chair*	City Council Member	City of Broken Arrow
Bill Christiansen	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
Jim Clark	Commissioner	Osage County
Dan Delozier	Commissioner	Rogers County
Magan Delozier	Rogers Co. Plan. Comm.	Tulsa County
Stanley Glanz	Sheriff	Tulsa County
Jim Hargrove	Commissioner	Wagoner County
Doug Haught	Mayor	City of Sapulpa
Jerry Hefner	Commissioner	Wagoner County
Mike Helm	Commissioner	Rogers County
Jack Henderson	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
Scott Hilton*	Commissioner	Osage County
Dana Hudgins	Commissioner	Creek County
Richard Keck	Citizen	Wagoner County Towns
Susan Kimball	City Council Member	City of Owasso
Rita Lamkin	Mayor	City of Catoosa
Jon M. McGrath	Citizen	Tulsa County
Randi Miller*	Commissioner	Tulsa County
Robert Morton	Mayor	City of Coweta
Mike Nunneley*	Citizen	Creek County Towns
Fred Perry	Commissioner	Tulsa County
John Pippin	Citizen	Osage County Towns
Bud Ricketts	City Council Member	Town of Skiatook
Stan Sallee	Mayor	City of Collinsville
John Selph, Chairman*	Citizen	Tulsa County
Brant Shallenburger	Mayor	City of Claremore
Ed Slyman	City Council Member	City of Bristow
John Smaligo	Commissioner	Tulsa County
Wes Smithwick	Citizen	Tulsa County
Kathy Taylor*	Mayor	City of Tulsa
Kirt Thacker	Commissioner	Rogers County
Craig Thurmond	Vice Mayor	City of Broken Arrow
Roscoe Turner	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
Tom Vincent	Commissioner	Wagoner County
Vic Vreeland, Treasurer*	Mayor	City of Jenks
Rick Westcott	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
Phil Wood	Auditor	City of Tulsa
Cathy Worten	City Council Member	City of Pawhuska
Ken Yazel	Tulsa County Assessor	Tulsa County

Alternates:

John Eagleton	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
William Martinson	City Council Member	City of Tulsa
Dennis Troyer	City Council Member	City of Tulsa