City staff propose Title 49 changes to speed residential alterations, add minor construction permit and raise one priority fee

Development Services briefed the Public Works Committee on a proposed ordinance to amend Tulsa Revised Ordinance Title 49 — administrative permit and license fees — to add and revise fees intended to speed modest construction and inspection work.

Michael Skates, the city’s development service director, told the committee the ordinance contains four primary changes: (1) a residential “fast track” program limited to interior alterations and similar building alterations so notable renovation permits can be issued the same day; (2) a new minor construction permit in the Infrastructure Development Program (IDP) with a $250 fee to handle small, targeted fixes (for example, raising a manhole eight inches or making a simple drainage connection) without the full IDP process; (3) inspection and testing fee updates tied to watershed permits and to water-meter/detector checks; and (4) an increase in the commercial priority-review fee from $450 to $500 to make commercial and residential expedited-review fees consistent.

Skates said the residential fast‑track will support the mayor’s housing programs, including the community builder incentive, by allowing certified or routine alterations to receive same‑day permit issuance. “We’re bringing back a portion of the residential fast track for alterations only,” Skates said. He described the minor-construction permit as a lower-cost alternative to the full IDP submittal and said it will be paired with a required bond, insurance and a drawing for field engineering review.

Committee members asked about how the new minor permit would have affected a recent Brookside manhole problem; staff said the new permit likely would have allowed an expedient solution. Councilor Dallas asked Skates to clarify the expediting fee changes and the professional home‑builder program; Skates said professional home builders are certified through the Home Builders Association programs and that the priority process for certified builders will require fewer plan submittals.

Skates said most fees are new or reintroduced rather than broad price increases; the only explicit fee increase proposed in the packet was the commercial priority-review increase from $450 to $500. The ordinance was presented for committee review and discussion; no vote was taken at this meeting.