Tulsa council approves Kilkenny’s St. Patrick’s Day festival after property‑owner complaints, with city staff assurances

The Tulsa City Council on March 11, 2025, approved a special‑event permit for Kilkenny’s St. Patrick’s Day festival on Cherry Street after the event applicant and a nearby property owner reached last‑minute assurances on crowd control and site layout.

The council’s approval — of items 4(b) through 4(n) on the published agenda, excluding item 4(e) — followed a public exchange in which an attorney for a neighboring property owner said vendor tents had been placed on his client’s private property during last year’s festival and that the lawn was damaged. The council voted to approve the items by roll call; the motion carried unanimously.

The dispute centered on a property at the southwest corner of Fifteenth and Quincy, which Matt Allison, attorney for 10918 East 55th Place LLC, said was used without permission during the 2024 festival. Allison said a photograph in the packet showed a vendor tent and festival visitors on his client’s lawn and that the applicant had not provided adequate assurances that the same would not recur. “My client cannot support this application as proposed,” Allison said, adding that Kilkenny’s had not provided “any substantive revision or provision to suggest that this year will be any different than the last.”

Kilkenny’s representative Natalie Cornett told the council the applicant had revised the site plan and moved the stage away from Quincy. “We will have an additional fence,” Cornett said, describing crowd‑control barricades she said would be placed along Fifteenth and Quincy to keep patrons off the private property while allowing customer access to the business.

City special‑events staff (identified in the meeting transcript as Skipper) said inspectors had required a revised traffic and crowd‑control plan and that the organizer had agreed to move the stage and adjust barricade placement. Skipper told councilors the city would perform an on‑site inspection before the event and that permit language does not authorize use of private property: “The special event permit does not get any type of authorization to go on private property,” he said.

Councilors pressed both sides to reach a practical compromise at the meeting. After the applicant and property representative stepped into a hallway to attempt a settlement, several councilors said the revised plan and a pre‑event inspection were sufficient to permit the festival to proceed. Councilor Bellas said she was persuaded by the mitigation measures and did not want to block an annual community event.

The formal motion recorded in the public minutes approved items 4(b)–4(n) except 4(e), with an emergency clause on items 4(b)–4(d. The roll call recorded unanimous support.

Councilors also outlined remedies available if barricades failed or private property was occupied during the event: property owners can contact on‑site security or Tulsa Police Department officers at the event; if the property owner is not present, the city staff advised a letter and signage on file with TPD to support trespass enforcement.

The council did not adopt any additional city code changes at the meeting. Several councilors asked staff to follow up with both parties after the event to confirm that the mitigation measures were implemented and to document any remaining private‑property damage claims for separate civil resolution.