St. John's rezoning and Utica Corridor

[Tulsasaurus Rex]

Preserve Midtown told me "St. John's and the surrounding residents have been working together to create the Utica Corridor Master Plan. St. John's is getting ready to rezone its' campus from the old PUD designation to the new MX-I designation. They have invited their neighborhoods to a meeting to discuss this rezoning."

Does anyone know that practical implications that's going to bring? What's actually going to change about St. John's campus? Do they own some land around there besides that which the medical buildings sit on?

A related question: There are several large, empty lots on the northwest corner of 21st and Utica. What's up with that? Seems like that's crying out to be developed. A hotel could make since. Lots of people come from out of town to visit relatives in the hospital. Utica Square probably wouldn't mind having more customers sleeping across the street.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

That's one lot IIRC, it was the former location for Helmerich & Payne's office building. I think back in 2007 or 2008 there was a discussion here about building a hotel on that lot just like you suggested.

[SXSW]

AFAIK Helmerich & Payne still owns that lot where their building used to be.  I don't know about the land to the west but that entire site from St Louis to Utica is a great infill opportunity next to St John/Utica Square.  A Hotel has been rumored there but I don't think there are any solid plans in place. 

The views from any kind of tower there would be awesome.  If you want a nice skyline view go to the top of the parking garage next to the office building right there.

[Tulsasaurus Rex]

Anyone know how rezoning St. John's campus will actually change anything?

[PonderInc]

What's confusing is that there's no such thing as MXI zoning.  There's MX1, 2 or 3, and there's IMX.

MX1 is Mixed Use "neighborhood" - the lowest intensity of the new mixed-use zoning districts.  It corresponds to what most of us think of when we picture historic main streets.  Small scale, residential, retail and dining, built up to the street.  In the new code, Mixed-Use districts have 3 possible "intensities" (1-neighborhood,2-community,3-regional); 4 possible "character" designations (pedestrian, urban, variable, or flexible); and 5 possible height designations (max heights of 35,45, 55, 65 or unlimited).  

IMX is the old Institutional Mixed Use that was introduced in the zoning code a while back, prior to the recent update.  It still exists and my guess is that this is what they meant.  Maybe Lou confused himself when filling out the application?  

I haven't focused that much time on the IMX district, but it appears to have some good rules compared to some of the other zoning options. (Not as desirable as MX-1, but oh well.)

Right now, I can't find a separate application for the re-zoning, just an application for the abandonment.  I guess this would happen concurrently?  So it does matter if they mean MX1 or IMX.  Those are two very different things.  But since the IMX was basically created for use around medical facilities, I'm assuming this is what's intended.

[Conan71]

AFAIK Helmerich & Payne still owns that lot where their building used to be.  I don't know about the land to the west but that entire site from St Louis to Utica is a great infill opportunity next to St John/Utica Square.  A Hotel has been rumored there but I don't think there are any solid plans in place. 

The views from any kind of tower there would be awesome.  If you want a nice skyline view go to the top of the parking garage next to the office building right there.

The Helmerichs could donate er cheap sell that land for the new REI and the city can leave their namesake park alone 

[dbacksfan 2.0]

The Helmerichs could donate er cheap sell that land for the new REI and the city can leave their namesake park alone 

Always the optimist, that's probably one of the best land swap deals I have heard in a while. Save the park, upscale outdoor  sports business across from Utica Square, still close to River Parks, nice setting away from South Tulsa mess..........

Good thinking!

[Conan71]

Always the optimist, that's probably one of the best land swap deals I have heard in a while. Save the park, upscale outdoor  sports business across from Utica Square, still close to River Parks, nice setting away from South Tulsa mess..........

Good thinking!

That would be a great location...or the old Miss Jacksons.

[Breadburner]

Zippin the lip....

[Conan71]

Zippin the lip....

Jono could make that happen

[Tulsasaurus Rex]

This article explains a whole lotta nothing

That's exactly what I was thinking. They kept the neighbors in the loop and now have permission to do something, but not other things, but don't have any plans to do anything.

[PonderInc]

As a continuing part of PlaniTulsa, the city is now taking small area planning more seriously.  In the old days, you'd come up with a plan, it would be approved, and then it would sit on the shelf and be ignored by everyone. Developers would cry that they'd never heard of the decade-long planning process, and then they'd do whatever the heck they wanted.

Since PlaniTulsa, the city has gotten a lot better at handling small area planning.  It's more inclusive and more structured.  There's a more formal framework for how it's done.  And, miracle of miracles... even the Planning Commission seems to be paying more attention to them.

The Utica Midtown Corridor Small Area Plan was one of the first to be completed after PlaniTulsa.  It has a north section (the area around Hilcrest) and a south section (the area around St. John).  The plan was developed with lots of input from all stakeholders, including the hospitals, big boy developers/property owners, neighbors and small business owners.  As a result, everyone was heard, and everyone had to give a little, but they seem to have come to a pretty good agreement.

So now there's a plan that sets out the kinds of development people want to see.  It also includes expectations for where growth will occur and how to handle the transitions between intensive hospital / medical facilities and residential properties.  And it shows how human-scaled mixed-use, streetscaping, lighting, landscaping, etc play a role in that.  One of the major benefits may be that developers participated in the process, so they can't claim to be ignorant of what this stuff means or what is expected. (If I recall correctly, it was Bumgarner and St. John who really initiated the process, which isn't a bad thing, since the neighbors showed up in force, too.) 

Here's the link to the Utica Midtown Corridor Plan: https://www.cityoftulsa.org/media/359206/Utica_Midtown_Corridor_SAP_small.pdf

The re-zoning to IMX helps create uniformity and predictability.  This is better than having a bunch of random, outdated PUDs cobbled together.

Having said all of this, I was not involved personally in the Utica plan.  I'm sure that a neighborhood resident may have a different interpretation than the above.  But I would assume that if Chip showed up to speak in favor of the re-zoning plan, that means the neighbors are OK with it.  He's not afraid to speak up when he feels the neighbors are being screwed.