Tulsa Comprehensive Plan - PLANiTULSA

Land Use
parT v: BUiLdinG THe PLan
Harmonizing Tulsa’s
Planning and Zoning system
Many cities have improved the process for infill and
redevelopment by adopting modern zoning codes that
are designed to match desired community outcomes
and plans. These zoning codes provide easy to read
diagrams for the kinds of buildings that are permitted,
their relationship to the street and surrounding
neighborhood, and the uses that are permitted within
them. The result is a menu of types of development
that are desirable and can be built by right. Developers
and communities benefit from more certainty, and
government agencies reduce their administration
costs.
If Tulsa is to build its vision for the future, it must
ensure that this process is the default. One of the
primary recommendations of this plan is the revision
of Tulsa’s zoning code, in order to provide for a reliable,
predictable path for desired redevelopment, allow for
innovative parking, and ensure great urban design for
both infill and new neighborhoods and business areas.
Using prototypes to test the effects of a zoning code’s
effect on the shape, function, and cost of development
will help ensure that the code is designed to maximize
development opportunities. Tulsa’s new comprehensive
plan will need to be implemented by a zoning code that
is designed to accommodate the kind of development
the city needs. There were several lessons learned from
the prototype exercise that should be reflected in the
new code; Tulsa needs:
• A range of zoning districts that
allow mixed-use buildings by right;
• A shared parking district overlay to
be used in conjunction with a shared parking
analysis to estimate actual parking needs;
• To adjust parking requirements to more
accurately reflect parking needs in the context
of shared parking districts;
• To revise set-back standards to allow buildings
to be built along the sidewalk, rather than pushed
to the rear of the lot with parking in front.
LU
44
July 2010
Tulsa comprehensive plan – Land Use