Board approves Gilcrease soft-surface trail plan with limited parking and conditions after wide public comment

The Tulsa Board of Adjustment on Feb. 11 approved a special exception to allow Tulsa Parks and Recreation to develop multi‑use soft‑surface trails and granted a variance on parking‑surface requirements for a gravel lot west of 30 Third West Avenue, near the Gilcrease Museum.

The board voted unanimously to approve the parks use and the variance after extensive public comment and a presentation from Dylan Siers, project manager for Tulsa Parks and Recreation. "So what we're asking for today is a special exception for our parks and recreation use on, these tracts of land… The proposed project though will consist of 14 miles of soft surface trail," Siers told the board, describing roughly 8.5 miles west of 30 Third West Avenue and 5.5 miles on the east side adjacent to Stewart Park.

The board attached conditions limiting the development to the conceptual plan presented at the hearing, restricting trails to non‑motorized (foot and pedal) use, prohibiting permanent field lighting and prohibiting permanent sporting facilities such as ballfields or courts. The board also approved the gravel parking surface as a variance to the all‑weather paving rule for the lot shown on the plan. The motion passed with votes recorded as aye by the board members present.

Why it mattered: The proposal drew a large public turnout because the land is adjacent to long‑standing rural…