Mayoral Deadline for Comp Plan Update

[Double A]

Mayor sets deadline for city plan update
By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
11/16/2006


Mayor Kathy Taylor is shooting to have the city's comprehensive plan update completed before her first term in office ends in 2009, the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission learned Wednesday.

"The mayor very much wants this to be done on her watch, so our goal is that that will be done," Pat Treadway told commission members.

Treadway, division manager of the city's Urban Development Department, and mayoral aide Susan Neal outlined the city's plan for the first step in the process -- selecting a consultant -- during a Planning Commission work session.

"My goal here today is to describe to you the process that we hope to begin," Treadway said.

He told Planning Commission members that the city hopes to hire a consultant or consultants to work with residents and city officials to update the existing comprehensive plan by early next summer.

However, he said, three things must happen before that can be accomplished: Taylor must appoint a steering committee; public meetings must be held on the plan; and an RFP -- or request for proposal -- must be created to be sent to consulting firms.

Treadway estimated that the actual work on the comprehensive plan will take from 1 1/2 to three years.

The steering committee, the members of which are expected to be named within a few weeks, will represent a wide range of local residents, he said.

The group will participate in the community meetings and will make recommendations to the mayor.

Neal said the cost of creating a new comprehensive plan would fall between $1.5 million and $3.5 million, depending on the plan's scope.

So far, she said, $500,000 from the most recent third-penny sales tax has been allocated for that purpose.

Neal said Tulsa County officials have indicated some interest in supporting the project and that other funds will be raised through private donations.

The last comprehensive plan for the city, "Vision Tulsa 2000" was developed from 1972 to 1978 at a cost of just more than $700,000, according to information provided to the Planning Commission.

Kevin Canfield 581-8313
kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.com

Timeline
Tentative timeline for hiring a consultant to work on updating Tulsa’s comprehensive plan:

   * Steering committee to be announced within weeks

   * Steering committee to begin meeting before the end of the year

   * Public meetings to begin in early 2007

   * RFP, or request for proposal, to be drafted by early spring

   * Mayor to select consultant next summer

[PonderInc]

I'm intrigued that this thread doesn't have any more posts on it.  Updating the comprehensive plan is a huge deal to everyone who cares about shaping Tulsa's future.  If you're frustrated with the status quo regarding land use and zoning, public spaces or transportation planning, the comprehensive plan is our chance to make changes to the way our city moves forward.  

Unlike in the past, we have an independent, forward-thinking planning department that is interested in what the citizens want.

What's important to us?  What do we want to see more of?  What mistakes do we want to try to fix?  Do we support more mixed-use development, or do we prefer driving miles each day to run our little errands?

Think about it.  The old comprehensive plan set us on a course of auto dependency and helped facilitate the creation of horrible streetscapes, big box stores that hulk behind infinite surface parking lots, and tacky billboard jungles.  It also determined that residential spaces should be segregated from the shops and services that support their inhabitants.  (Compare older neighborhoods to the ones that developed under bad "comprehensive plans."  Do you like Brookside and Cherry Street, where neighbors walk to dinner, for a coffee, or to window shop...or do you prefer 71st and Mingo, where people do their walking in giant parking lots and inside gargantuan stores?)

How do we want to direct future development?  Do we want to create a city for the citizens?  Or do we want to continue letting the developers' convenience make every determination for our city, while concerned citizens are left in a reactionary mode.  

Please folks.  This is our chance to get involved and have a voice in shaping Tulsa's future for the better.  So please pay attention when you hear the words "comprehensive plan."  It matters to all of us.

[Double A]

I am concerned that this steering committee will be appointed without confirmation by the City Council. The fact that this plan update is sought to be completed in such an accelerated time frame without the neccessary funding secured to accomplish this seems like a recipe for disaster. Furthermore, I think the solicitation of private funding will fuel speculation that influence can be purchased, jeopardizing the public trust that this will be an objective open process. While I welcome funding from the county or state for that matter, I only do so if it comes without strings attached that would give the county or state undue influence that could undermine Tulsa's authority or compromise the right of the city to self determination on a local matter. It is the CITY OF TULSA comprehensive plan update, not the Tulsa Metro Area plan, or the Northeast Oklahoma plan. I am not saying that there should not be any regional aspects to certain components of the update, I am only suggesting that where and when  those aspects should apply ought to be decided and determined by representatives of the city of Tulsa to insure it makes sense for the best interest of the city first and foremost.

Bates has an interesting article in this week's UTW-It Won't Go Away that offers some honest observations of the challenges facing downtown planning while suggesting possible solutions and warns about the potential hazards of letting undue influence by private special interests dictate this public process.

[OurTulsa]

I would expect everyone on this Board to contribute to the public discourse surrounding and resulting from the Comp Plan update...for this is your big chance to help change the world, er, at leasts Tulsa's.

I certainly plan to do my part to help Tulsa think BIG.  

This Board should also play a significant role in helping announce meetings, presentations, timelines, rusults.