North Tulsa residents press council over Lansing easement closures, say community was excluded

North Tulsa residents urged the Tulsa City Council on Jan. 15, 2025 to include the neighborhood in planning for utility and overland-easement closures tied to future development, saying long-standing infrastructure and health issues in the area have not been addressed.

“It's troubling because when you're making decisions such as the ones my husband was just talking about, you're not including the committee, the community,” Bernice Alexander said during the meeting’s public-comment period. Alexander said the area is a “federal entitlement area” and that residents who live there are supposed to participate in planning tied to federal block grants and other neighborhood funds.

James Alexander told the council he has repeatedly raised concerns about proposed easement closures on Lansing, saying the neighborhood’s residents were not included in the planning process and that past promises to repair streets and fix raw-sewage and groundwater issues have gone unmet for decades. “We asked for a cleanup in that area. We asked for new homes to be built in that area,” he said, adding that five major streets promised for repair have not been fixed for more than 30 years.

Council Chair Phil Lakin noted for the record that Morton Health Care Center “sits right on top of this utility easement that is the subject of items i through j.” The council moved to approve items 7a through 7k except for 7h, and the package carried with the emergency clause added to item 7k.

Why it matters: Speakers said the easement and closure decisions relate to a part of North Tulsa they described as a federal entitlement area and argued the community should be a participant in decisions that use or affect federal community-development funds.

Public comment excerpts and concerns - Bernice Alexander said the community has worked the city’s complaint process “since 1994” and argued infrastructure problems — including raw sewage and untreated groundwater deliveries and unaddressed street repairs — remain. - James Alexander said residents were not included in the decision-making and warned that proposed development “will prosper black people” only if residents are part of the planning, and urged the council to engage the neighborhood. - During the same public-comment period, Cody Elkins criticized a $436,025 allocation to the Department of City Experience and argued the city’s approach to opioid addiction focuses on harm reduction and “postmodernist bus stop art” instead of what he called rehabilitation; his remarks were delivered during the public-comment segment tied to item 7 (speaker registration showed him for item 7gs).

Council action and next steps - The council approved the package of easement and alley items (7a–7k except 7h) on roll call; staff will proceed with the procedural steps to record easement and alley closures. - Council members and staff said the initiation of land-use amendments (item 8b) will include community engagement steps; speakers asked for direct outreach and inclusion of neighborhood organizations in future discussions.

Context and background Public commenters referenced a recent Justice Department report about the 1921 destruction of Black property in Tulsa and said that, in their view, discriminatory patterns of exclusion persist when community members are not included in planning that affects federal entitlement areas. Speakers repeatedly asked the council to ensure that community residents are active participants in planning using federal community-development funds.

What’s next: The approved easement and alley closure ordinances will be processed by public-works and planning staff. Council and staff also signaled that Scenic Hills land-use initiation will include community meetings; residents asking to be included said they will continue to pursue complaint processes and engagement.