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Parks department cleared to modify Johnson Park plan; sidewalk stub removal approved on safety grounds
Summary
Tulsa Parks received a special exception to modify a previously approved Johnson Park site plan and a variance to omit a sidewalk stub along Riverside Drive that staff said would be more hazardous than helpful given current street frontage and trail alignment.
The Board of Adjustment approved a special exception allowing modifications to the previously approved Johnson Park site plan and granted a variance to remove a short sidewalk stub along Riverside Drive that would not connect to an existing sidewalk network.
Dylan Sires and Steve Lassman, representing Tulsa Parks, told the board the park’s redesign includes a new trail system, playground, pickleball courts, a covered basketball court, dog parks and a Portland Loo restroom. They said the small sidewalk stub on Riverside Drive would dead-end into grass because the east side of Riverside lacks a continuous sidewalk; creating the stub now could confuse pedestrians, be unsafe for visually impaired users and not tie into a functional pedestrian network.
Parks staff said they will construct accessible paths within the park and that, if a future sidewalk is built on Riverside Drive, the department is willing to add the short connection later. Board members accepted the hardship framing that the stub would be disruptive to the accessibility and safety plan embedded in the revised site plan and approved both requests.
Vote: Chair — aye; Miss Williams — aye; Mr. Wallace — aye; Miss Stauffer — aye. The board’s motion included findings required by the zoning code and left future sidewalk connections noted as a contingent task.
