Tulsa council debates ordinance setting 18‑inch clearance from roadways, sparking equity and enforcement concerns

Councilor Vanessa Lincoln introduced an ordinance to amend Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37 — the city's traffic code — to prohibit sitting, lying upon or standing within a minimum horizontal clearance (18 inches) of certain roadways and medians and to rename and reorganize related sections of Chapter 11 and Chapter 2. The item carried an emergency clause and was before the council for second reading; no vote was recorded in the meeting transcript.

Lincoln said the ordinance is “about public safety,” citing engineering guidance and federal practice in support of the 18‑inch measure. She told the council the provision was drawn from AASHTO standards and engineering practice and is intended for higher‑speed streets and medians where people have been seriously injured or killed.

The measure prompted extended debate on scope, enforcement and equity. Councilor Bellas said sidewalks are public rights of way and voiced concern that the sidewalk provision could criminalize ordinary pedestrian behavior, such as waiting for a ride or briefly standing while looking for a car. “I'm still having any trouble. ... When I look at sidewalks, they're meant to be public rights of way,” Bellas said.

Councilors raised three recurring concerns: whether the 18‑inch rule should apply to sidewalks as well as medians; how officers would use discretion in enforcement; and whether existing design shortfalls (narrow sidewalks, utility poles in walkways, missing sidewalks in some neighborhoods) would produce inequitable enforcement against people who lack safer options. Several councilors said they supported regulating medians but opposed applying the 18‑inch prohibition to sidewalks citywide.

Deputy Chief Wilmerhauser, referenced by council members in the discussion, told the council in a prior meeting that Tulsa Police Department would use the ordinance as a tool rather than an immediate citation generator: “they would use it as ... something to make them, you know, not to write the warning they can't be here,” council members reported he said.

Council members compared Tulsa's draft to other cities. Staff noted Houston and some other municipalities have ordinances that prohibit sitting or placing personal items in portions of the public way; penalties vary widely (examples cited in the presentation ranged from $50 to $500 in other jurisdictions). The draft before Tulsa kept the local fine at $150, unchanged from previous local citations, but several councilors asked staff to explore lowering the citation and to write clearer warning/affirmative‑defense language to avoid removing people from services pathways.

Council members requested clarifications and possible amendments including: - Narrowing language so the rule applies to medians and roadway edges but not to pedestrian refuge islands or sidewalks that are designed and intended for pedestrian use; - Adding explicit affirmative defenses for people delayed by injury, medical need or equipment failure; and - Directing city legal staff to draft adjustments on sidewalk exclusions, definitions for "pedestrian refuge island," and options for a graduated warning/enforcement regime and lower booked‑to‑court fines.

Several councilors said existing city engineering programs already separate sidewalks from roadways in many newer corridors, and staff said ongoing capital and routine maintenance programs will continue to address design gaps over multiple years. Council members who opposed applying the 18‑inch prohibition to sidewalks cited equity concerns, potential chilling effects on free assembly and speech, and the risk of increasing interactions between people experiencing homelessness and the criminal justice system.

No final amendment or vote was recorded in the transcript; councilors asked staff and city legal to return with draft revisions and with options for fines and affirmative defenses. The ordinance remained scheduled for final action later the same evening and councilors signaled follow‑up work would be necessary before a final ordinance was enacted.

Ending

Council members agreed to continue work with city legal and public safety staff on narrowly tailored language that would keep the safety focus on medians and roadway edges while addressing concerns about sidewalk application, enforcement discretion and fines.