Tulsa City Council Meeting June 24, 2026: License Agreements, TIF District, Affordable Housing Ordinances
Tulsa City Council Meeting Summary: June 24, 2026
The Tulsa City Council met on June 24, 2026, to consider several agenda items including a license agreement for canopies at the University Center at Tulsa, a change order for a street project waterline, creation of a tax increment financing (TIF) district for the Pearl District, adoption of the annual assessment for Tourism Improvement District #1, and two proposed ordinances to promote affordable housing through lien waivers and building permit fee adjustments. The council also heard a presentation from the Human Rights Commission on the geographic representation of authority board and commission members.
License Agreement for Canopies at 700 North Greenwood Avenue
- Paul from Public Works presented a request to reinstitute a license agreement for two walkway canopies and brick pavers that have existed since 1994 but lacked a formal agreement. The property is now owned by OSU Board of Regents. The agreement clarifies that the city is not responsible for maintenance of the canopies or pavers. Staff requested approval, noting no objections from stakeholders. The council moved to the next item without objection, indicating approval.
Change Order #1 – Contract with Crossland Heavy Contractors (Project 2036/1153Z)
- Paul explained a change order for $28,530.45 (1.3% of the overall contract) and 120 additional days to remove a tree whose root system was damaging the street and sidewalk, and to install a six-inch water line with valves. The tree removal will address tripping hazards and road degradation. Councilor Archie asked about location (Council District 2) and tree evaluation process; Paul confirmed consultation with an arborist. Staff requested approval; the council moved on without objection, indicating approval.
Ordinance Creating Increment District #27 (Pearl District TIF)
- Audrey Blank and Mike Dickerson presented. The council had previously adopted the Pearl District Project Plan in July 2025, and now district A is being named and created to start the TIF clock. Catalytic projects include a large multifamily apartment complex and townhome developments, plus a parking garage to avoid Cherry Street-style parking lot sprawl. Councilor Bellis noted the inclusion of the historic 11th Street area. Staff requested approval; the council moved to the next item without objection.
Annual Assessment Role for Tourism Improvement District #1
- A representative from the finance department presented the annual assessment of hotels with 110 or more rooms at 3% of gross room rate to fund tourism marketing. The council moved on without objection, indicating approval.
Ordinance Amending Title 24 – Waiver of Nuisance Abatement Costs and Fees for Affordable Housing
- Travis Holse (Housing Office) presented a proposal to waive city nuisance abatement liens for properties acquired by new owners that are vacant/abandoned, in exchange for affordability restrictions. Eligibility requires the property to be acquired with existing liens, no additional private liens, and the new owner must commit to rent or sell at affordable rates based on 60% of area median income (AMI). For a 2.3-person household, the maximum affordable rent is $1,188/month and maximum sale price is $118,000. Affordability periods range from 3 to 7 years depending on lien amount (capped at $10,000). Clawback provisions apply if affordability is not maintained. Council discussion included concerns about timeframes for requesting waivers, vacancy allowances (180 days), and potential impacts on larger properties. The ordinance was discussed but no vote was recorded in the transcript.
Ordinance Amending Title 49 – Building Permit Fee Adjustment for Affordable Housing
- Travis Holse continued with a proposal to waive building permit application and permit fees for housing developments up to 10 units, in exchange for affordability covenants. Fee reduction amounts tied to affordability periods (same as above: 3,5,7 years). The program is capped at $500,000 in total fees waived or 2,000 units permitted per fiscal year, whichever comes first. Council discussed applicability to rehabs, covenant recording, affordability notification to tenants, and potential overlap with other programs. No vote was recorded in the transcript.
Discussion with Human Rights Commission on ABC Composition by Council District
- Drew France (Chair) and Patty Safi Levad presented data showing that 310 authority board and commission (ABC) members reside disproportionately in City Council Districts 4 and 9 (over half), while Districts 3,5,6,7 are underrepresented. They noted that 24% of seats have new members since Mayor Nichols' tenure began and 62% have turned over in the last five years. They proposed upstream recruitment efforts, partnering with neighborhood associations, and creating educational materials to demystify the application process. Council members offered to host town halls and suggested improving the online application process and creating a lookbook for ABCs. No action was taken.
Key Outcomes
- License Agreement for Canopies: Approved by consensus.
- Change Order #1: Approved by consensus.
- Increment District #27 (Pearl TIF): Ordinance approved by consensus.
- Tourism Improvement District Assessment: Ordinance approved by consensus.
- Affordable Housing Lien Waiver Ordinance (Title 24): Presented and discussed; no vote held.
- Affordable Housing Permit Fee Ordinance (Title 49): Presented and discussed; no vote held.
- Human Rights Commission Presentation: Discussion only; council agreed to partner on recruitment efforts.
Note: Votes were not explicitly recorded in the transcript; outcomes are inferred from the meeting flow and statements.
Meeting Transcript
Colleges for property located at 700 North Greenwood Avenue University Center at Tulsa Edition to install use and maintain two walkway canopies and a brickpaper walkway within the street right away. City Council District One. Paul, I was looking for you to come up to the table. Paul's agree public works. If you've ever driven in the old university center Tulsa area and gone through OSU, you're gonna say those two canopies and those brick pavers have been there ever since they built that place back in 1994. Um what's happened is something came up that involved the betterments that were going to be adversely impacted and we could not find the license agreement uh for it. And now that it's an OSU Board of Regents property, there could have been under University Center at Tulsa at the time under a different authority. So what we're doing is we're just bringing this back up to date. These bridges are not a city responsibility. The papers through there are not a responsibility. If they have tripping hazards by students crossing in there, that's a university issue that is not a city of Tulsa issue. So we did the search as much as we could, and with the changing of authorities, etc. We just thought it'd be easiest to probably just bring it up to date. So the pictures that you see in there, um, we did send them a letter. We want the proper uh M U T C D, which is the manual on uniform traffic control devices. We want the proper signage to meet for things that are going over roadways for delivery trucks, etc. So we're just bringing it in. I'm just gonna say into the 21st century, and everybody's got uh institutional knowledge about it now, to where that's I think is just what's been lost over time, and now we have a record of it. So we would ask uh for your support of this to clarify duties on maintenance uh with the Board of Regents and the City of Tulsa. We're all in agreement on this, and we had received no objections at all from any of the groups that we spoke with. So we would ask for your approval with this reinstituting a license agreement that's just not been found in our records, so it's a needed item. Well, I appreciate that, just ma'am. Any questions, comments? No, okay. Let's move on to agenda item number three. Paul, you're still here for that, right? Yes, ma'am. Change order number one to contract number one three eight zero six eight between the city of Tulsa and Crossland Heavy Contractors Incorporated for project number 2036 and 1153Z, and the amount of 28,530.45 cents, and adding 120 calendar days necessary for the addition of a waterline materials needed for design change, two-inch air relief valve for total six by six DI Cross, uh, blah blah. Sorry. That's a lot of numbers. Fill us in there, Paul. Okay. Um, what this what this is is we on our street project, we had a water line. We're gonna have to pour underneath this tree with this tree's road system was damaging the street, it's also damaging the sidewalk, and the tree's health was not of such too just to keep it around. So we're removing the tree, but in removing the tree, we've removed the bore, and we're adding in uh some the two inch lines, the two inch relief valve. We're putting in a six-inch water line, so we already had that a six by six ductal iron cross uh for a water line connection uh with restrained joints on it, and also two additional uh six-inch uh ductile iron plugs, and we're also removing a larger under tree uh just to kind of give you an idea. It's around 10 grand to get it completely out and dug out from underneath the street and clearing all the road system. So in doing that, we believe we could have bored under it, but we would have still had tripping issues, the road degradation. Uh so for $28,000, which is 1.3 percent of the overall contract, um, we're gonna be able to make an improvement. This will outlast the length of the roadway, so it's conditioned. So we would support this, and the the contractor is ready to move as soon as you all move. So we would ask for your approval of this item. What type of tree was that? A big one. One with deep roots, right? Yeah, deep and shallow. Spreading and damaging. Okay, well, just thought I'd ask. Okay, um counselor Archie. Yes.
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