Tulsa Comprehensive Plan - PLANiTULSA

Land Use
parT v: BUiLdinG THe PLan
PLaniTULsa Prototypes
Based on past trends and an analysis of Tulsa’s zoning
code and development regulations, the PLANiTULSA
team derived nine prototypical buildings that are
commonly found in Tulsa. They are primarily singleuse
and include a large supply of on-site parking.
To illustrate how a more nuanced zoning code could
produce a wider range of urban places and types,
PLANiTULSA used a simplified financial pro forma
to create a menu of additional building prototypes.
The new prototypes focused on combining compatible
uses, such as housing, offces, and ground floor retail.
They also included a wider range of housing types, from
cottage homes (small detached units), townhouses, and
live-work units that could easily blend into existing
neighborhoods.
The prototypes were further calibrated for market
feasibility. Local builders and developers were
interviewed for information on construction costs,
prevailing rents and sales prices, and financing
conditions. One of the key components of the market
feasibility was to adjust parking requirements from
Tulsa’s current high levels to more urban standards.
Reducing the amount of land needed for parking
helped make the prototypes economically feasible while
also improving their performance as infill buildings.
Excessive setbacks were also reduced, so the buildings
could present a unified street wall along the sidewalk.
These prototypes were used to illustrate the public
workshop growth concepts, and were directly tied to
the land use and transportation scenarios reviewed by
the public.
The important lessons learned from this exercise was
that zoning and regulations really matter – they allow
or prohibit the creation of urban places through the
accumulated effects of development. High parking
requirements force buildings far apart from one
another, degrading the pedestrian realm and increasing
the marginal cost of producing homes or employment
space. These new prototypes will complement the
kinds of places Tulsa is already building.
Table 9: Typical and expanded Prototypes
Typical Building
prototypes Found in Tulsa
Apartment
Single Family Home 5-8K Lot
Single Family Home 8-15K Lot
Business Park
Mid-Rise Business Park
Retail Mall
Strip Commercial
Heavy Industrial
Light Industrial
expanded Building prototypes
Based on new standards
Cottage Home
Townhouse
Live / Work
Neighborhood Grocery (1 Story)
Neighborhood Retail (1 Story)
Mixed Use Apartments & Retail (2 Story)
Mixed Use Retail & Offce (2 Story)
Mixed Use Retail & Offce (3 Story)
Mixed Use Residential & Retail (4 Story)
High Density Condo or Apartments (5 Story)
Offce Retail (3 Story)
Offce Retail (5 Story)
Offce Retail (10 Story)
July 2010
LU
Land Use – Tulsa comprehensive plan 43