OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Urban and Economic Development Committee Meeting – April 15, 2026

City CouncilWednesday, April 15, 2026
BodyTulsa, Oklahoma
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, April 15, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 53:11

Transcript — Verbatim
0:19

Today is Wednesday, April 15th.

0:23

It's 10 30 a.m.

0:24

And we're at the urban and economic development committee meeting.

0:29

Welcome those of you joining us online and in the room.

0:32

First order of business is uh we called the meeting to order, second order of business.

0:37

Rezoning application Z7853 from RS3 to CH for property located north, north north and east of the northeast corner of Southwest Boulevard and West 38 place.

0:50

Requested by the Tulsa City Council, property owner, City of Tulsa in Council District 2 team APC voted 901 to recommend approval of the zoning.

1:04

And Susan Miller is so this isn't anything new.

1:10

Um I presented this for uh when you all were considering it for initiation and you initiated it.

1:16

This is something uh this is a piece of a parcel sort of along Southwest Boulevard Route 66 that currently houses the administrative offices for the Route 66 Main Street, it's zoned RS3, the highway zone RS3, which which never really matters what the highway zoned, but I think this was really caught up in that zoning.

1:33

It was been that way since 1970.

1:35

In order to facilitate a gift shop, um, which is something they want to get in place for the centennial, they need commercial zoning.

1:42

So that's what this request is for.

1:44

The 901, the one is is Genie Q because she recused herself because of her involvement in the you know community development funding for it.

1:54

So um, so anyway, it's really pretty straightforward, it just needs to be commercial, even to better facilitate what it's used for now, but especially for a gift shop.

2:02

Yes.

2:03

Um why is the property adjoining?

2:12

Why is that CG?

2:15

I don't know, that's been there a long time as well.

2:17

So there's we decided when we were kind of uh here, let's go.

2:22

Let's look here.

2:22

I'm just curious.

2:24

I mean, I've been over there.

2:25

I'm just curious.

2:26

Is there nothing there?

2:27

Oh, to the it's um, and that's the route that is the actual main street house.

2:34

Oh, okay.

2:35

Right, that's a parking lot or something.

2:38

Yeah, that's why I was confused.

2:39

I was like, I don't know how that goes.

2:40

Why is that commercial general?

2:42

I don't think there's anything there.

2:43

Yeah, not really.

2:44

But CGCH, they're very very close in what you can do, but we decided just to go ahead and go with CH since most of the property around it is CH.

2:53

Okay.

2:54

All right, any other questions?

2:57

Thank you so much.

2:58

Thank you.

2:59

Uh Susan.

3:00

Item number three ordinance amending the Tulsa Revised Ordinances, Title V Boards, Commission and Committee Chapter 5, Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission reorganizing for the reliable for the readability restructuring commission appointees in terms of providing for tribal designee from the Scotchy Creek Nation, the um Cherokee Nation and the O State Nation providing that the City of Tulsa Director of Travel Policy and Partnership for similar position in the evidence thereof shall be an exo non-voting member of the commission.

3:35

I don't think I recall your name, sorry.

3:37

Good morning, I'm Daniel Carter, the vice chair of the Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission.

3:43

Thank you for having me here.

3:45

Would you like to speak to this or wouldn't it have to be helpful to set some context about if just for other folks the collection?

3:53

Yeah.

3:54

Um because I had spoken um maybe it was it last week that we met last.

3:59

I don't know what day it is.

4:00

Anyway, um, with a miss two week where we had a sorry I won't have a small big thing.

4:06

No, I'm day approved.

4:07

So um you we had this go through our committee table before, and we had it up for a vote at our last council meeting.

4:14

However, once um some of us had looked at it a bit more, we had more questions about that.

4:19

We I wish we'd caught up sooner for the committee meeting, and then I know you were out of town, right?

4:23

We were doing that last minute thing, so we apologize for the both delay because I I also know from the Title V end of things from one human rights commission how hard it is and helping state need is to work with everyone to even redraft these documents.

4:36

So we really appreciate you coming to join us.

4:38

But we had we had held it back where we got some answers from Amanda Swoke, but she really spoke to that um that's the vice chair was really best to kind of communicate and explain it because of the restructure.

4:48

Um we'd had questions about who this helped bring to the table or who it potentially left out, and it sounded like there were some really good explanations about how this really helped broaden and shore up the membership.

5:00

So if you wouldn't mind just explaining to us, you know, some of the shifts, it sounds like there's just some language cleanup here and what this changes or doesn't change relative to that.

5:08

I just think that would be really helpful.

5:10

We just all had context questions that I wish we'd caught when we had it on committee that first tied in.

5:14

Thank you for your patience with us as we've been back three as of this.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Legislative Policy███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Miscellaneous████████████████████20%
Housing████████████12%
Zoning███████████11%
Procedural████████8%
Arts And Culture█████5%
Technology and Innovation1%
Summary of Proceedings

Urban and Economic Development Committee Meeting – April 15, 2026

The Urban and Economic Development Committee met on April 15, 2026, to discuss several items including a rezoning request, a restructuring of the Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission, election resolutions, a stadium improvement district assessment, a friendship agreement with Sumy, Ukraine, and the selection of a councilor for a Vision Arts grant review panel. No formal votes were taken during the committee meeting; actions are expected at the full council meeting.

Discussion Items

  • Rezoning Application Z7853 (RS3 to CH): Susan Miller presented a request to rezone a city-owned parcel located at Southwest Boulevard and West 38 Place from RS3 to CH. The property currently houses the administrative offices of Route 66 Main Street, and the commercial zoning is needed to operate a gift shop in time for the centennial. The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (APC) voted 9-0-1 to recommend approval, with one recusal. Councillors discussed the adjacent CG zoning but noted CH was chosen to match surrounding properties.

  • Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission Ordinance Restructuring: Daniel Carter, Vice Chair of the commission, presented an ordinance amendment to reorganize Title V, Chapter 5. Key changes include granting ex officio voting positions to the Cherokee Nation, Muscogee Creek Nation, and Osage Nation (tribes with reservations in the area) and requiring appointees to show proof of American Indian ancestry via tribal enrollment or a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB). Councillors raised questions about the exclusion of freedmen and the use of DNA testing. Discussions included a potential amendment to allow freedmen recognized by their tribes to serve. Carter expressed openness to future amendments but noted the current proposal is a restructuring, not a policy change on tribal membership. The committee plans to vote on the ordinance at the full council meeting.

  • Election Resolution: A resolution was introduced to call for a non-partisan general election on August 25–26, 2026, for all nine council districts and the city auditor, with a runoff on November 3, 2026, if needed. No questions were raised.

  • Tulsa Stadium Improvement District #1 Annual Assessment: Jessica White from the finance department presented the resolution to file the annual assessment role and set a public hearing for June 3, 2026. The assessment, first billed in 2009 as part of a 30-year district, totals approximately 7.26 cents per square foot (composed of 2.96 cents for services and 4.3 cents for capital costs). Councillors expressed concern that nonprofits within the district must pay the assessment, as only religious institutions and federal entities are exempt under state statute. Discussion included potential state legislative changes to exempt 501(c)(3) organizations and improving transparency for tenants leasing property in the district.

  • Friendship Agreement with Sumy, Ukraine: The committee discussed a friendship agreement between Tulsa and Sumy, Ukraine. Mayor Nichols and Aaron York worked to establish the relationship, and the agreement was signed at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington, D.C. The partnership includes cultural exchanges and business connections, as Sumy residents live in Tulsa and the Osage Nation collaborates with Sumy on drone technology. Councillors praised the initiative.

  • Vision Arts Grant Application Review Panel: Councillor declined to serve on the independent review panel due to the time-intensive nature of the process, which involves reviewing 30–40 detailed applications with budgets, impact statements, and marketing plans. She suggested Councillor Archie, who had previously expressed interest. The panel review requires setting aside several hours and attending meetings. No decision was made.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken during the committee meeting. Items are expected to proceed to the full city council, where the Indian Affairs Commission ordinance amendment may be voted on after potential language adjustments regarding freedmen.
  • The resolutions for the election and stadium improvement district will move forward with the public hearing set for June 3, 2026.
  • The committee will continue discussions on improving transparency for stadium district assessments and potential state legislative action to exempt nonprofits.
  • The Vision Arts panel assignment remains pending; further discussion among councilors is expected.

Meeting Transcript

Today is Wednesday, April 15th. It's 10 30 a.m. And we're at the urban and economic development committee meeting. Welcome those of you joining us online and in the room. First order of business is uh we called the meeting to order, second order of business. Rezoning application Z7853 from RS3 to CH for property located north, north north and east of the northeast corner of Southwest Boulevard and West 38 place. Requested by the Tulsa City Council, property owner, City of Tulsa in Council District 2 team APC voted 901 to recommend approval of the zoning. And Susan Miller is so this isn't anything new. Um I presented this for uh when you all were considering it for initiation and you initiated it. This is something uh this is a piece of a parcel sort of along Southwest Boulevard Route 66 that currently houses the administrative offices for the Route 66 Main Street, it's zoned RS3, the highway zone RS3, which which never really matters what the highway zoned, but I think this was really caught up in that zoning. It was been that way since 1970. In order to facilitate a gift shop, um, which is something they want to get in place for the centennial, they need commercial zoning. So that's what this request is for. The 901, the one is is Genie Q because she recused herself because of her involvement in the you know community development funding for it. So um, so anyway, it's really pretty straightforward, it just needs to be commercial, even to better facilitate what it's used for now, but especially for a gift shop. Yes. Um why is the property adjoining? Why is that CG? I don't know, that's been there a long time as well. So there's we decided when we were kind of uh here, let's go. Let's look here. I'm just curious. I mean, I've been over there. I'm just curious. Is there nothing there? Oh, to the it's um, and that's the route that is the actual main street house. Oh, okay. Right, that's a parking lot or something. Yeah, that's why I was confused. I was like, I don't know how that goes. Why is that commercial general? I don't think there's anything there. Yeah, not really. But CGCH, they're very very close in what you can do, but we decided just to go ahead and go with CH since most of the property around it is CH. Okay. All right, any other questions? Thank you so much. Thank you. Uh Susan. Item number three ordinance amending the Tulsa Revised Ordinances, Title V Boards, Commission and Committee Chapter 5, Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission reorganizing for the reliable for the readability restructuring commission appointees in terms of providing for tribal designee from the Scotchy Creek Nation, the um Cherokee Nation and the O State Nation providing that the City of Tulsa Director of Travel Policy and Partnership for similar position in the evidence thereof shall be an exo non-voting member of the commission. I don't think I recall your name, sorry. Good morning, I'm Daniel Carter, the vice chair of the Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission. Thank you for having me here. Would you like to speak to this or wouldn't it have to be helpful to set some context about if just for other folks the collection? Yeah. Um because I had spoken um maybe it was it last week that we met last. I don't know what day it is. Anyway, um, with a miss two week where we had a sorry I won't have a small big thing. No, I'm day approved. So um you we had this go through our committee table before, and we had it up for a vote at our last council meeting.

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