The Urban and Economic Development Committee of the Tulsa City Council met on July 22, 2026, at 10:30 AM. The meeting, chaired by Councilor Anthony Archie (District 2), included discussions on reappointments to city commissions and authorities, a rezoning application, a budget appropriation for the OKPOP museum, and the dissolution of two tax increment financing (TIF) districts. No votes were taken during this meeting; all action items are scheduled for future council meetings.
A rezoning request from RS-3 (Residential) to IM (Industrial) for property at the northeast corner of West 37th Place and Galveston, submitted by Westside Industrial LLC, was discussed. The developer intends to build a battery storage facility to tie into the nearby BSO substation. The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (TMAPC) voted 10-0 to recommend approval. Two public speakers at the TMAPC meeting expressed support: one relayed resident concerns about the use, and the other (a property owner) praised the developer's engagement. The property includes 11 homes, and the developer is purchasing them and relocating residents. The remaining homes to the north and west are still occupied. The IM zoning would require a 75-foot setback from residential properties and a landscape buffer. Councilor Dutton expressed concerns about the impact on remaining homes and the volatility of battery storage. She requested time for community engagement. The committee agreed to defer the item to the August 5 committee meeting to allow for a community meeting.
An ordinance was presented to amend the FY 2026-27 budget, appropriating $1 million from the unappropriated fund balance within the pandemic relief fund for the OKPOP museum. These funds originally were allocated in 2021 but were contingent on the museum securing an $18 million match. The museum now has the match, and this appropriation will allow the project to proceed. The museum is in the design phase through the end of 2026, with construction planned through 2027 and a spring 2028 opening.
All right. Welcome, welcome everyone. We're live. It is uh ten thirty. Thank you, everyone. Aaron is all loud. No, we're we love the Aaron and Sure. All right, welcome everyone. Uh it is Wednesday, July twenty second, twenty twenty-six, ten thirty. Welcome to the UED Urban and Economic Development Meeting. My name's Anthony Archie. I'm a Tulsa City Councilor from District Two. Uh the first order of business, we call the meeting to order, and second, we want to welcome Hugh Lay to the table for a reappointment to the Asian Affairs Commission. Term expires January first, twenty twenty-eight. Attended nine of thirteen meetings. So uh Hugh, welcome to the table. Will you just share with us a little bit about who you are and why you'd like to continue to serve? Yeah, so good morning, everybody. Uh, my name is Hugh Lay. I am I don't know how I would describe myself, but um put it in a simpler term is I'm just a friendly neighborhood helper where I would love to serve the community to the max extent that I can. Um what I can share a little bit about myself is I am uh the founder of uh a nonprofit here in the city of Tulsa's called Empower Ed. We support our young people in understanding the next steps at the high school, and we are the only nonprofit here in the country that opens a five twenty-nine savings account for each and every single one of the students that are enrolled in our program. Yes. Um if you wanted to like to learn more about that, I would love to have conversation one-on-one conversation with you. In addition to that, um, I am also a realtor and investor in the city of Tulsa to help people go towards home ownership because home ownership is important specifically and especially to build generational wealth. And why I would like to serve is I would like to continue to give back to my Asian American community to ensure that their voices are being heard. Um I would leave I would like to leave it that it that as is. Yeah, thank you for sure. Counselor Gilbert. Thank you so much for again stepping up and wanting to be stay on the Asian Affairs Commission. I I truly appreciate that. It's I truly appreciate you taking the time out of your uh busy day to to do that. So I would love to hear more about your uh your pro your nonprofit that you have. Um I too work with I did work with youth with Tulsa Public Schools at one time in my life. So um always interested in learning what's going on uh with the kids these days and what we can do uh to work together to have a brighter future for all of them. So thank you. Yeah, thank you. Wonderful. Anyone else? Thank you. Thank you so much. All right, cool. Thank you for being here. We are going to oh yes, that's it, yeah. Oh, look it up, there we go. Zoom it in air. No, I have to the agenda. Thank you. Uh we're we will be voting on uh your appointment uh on the 29th of this month. Oh you are free to to uh attend, and if you want to speak uh to the those in attendance, you can, but thank you so much.