An incentive program for property owners along the Peoria Avenue bus rapid transit line gets renewed through the end of 2019.
The voluntary program waives application fees for property owners within a half mile of the route who apply to be rezoned as mixed-use.
"We want to encourage higher-density development in those locations, and our mixed-use zoning designations give people the flexibility and the base zoning to do that without having to come through additional discretionary actions before the planning commission or the city council," said City of Tulsa Planning Director Dawn Warrick.
Rezoning is typically an expensive process.
"The program itself waives the application and notification fees, which we estimate to be around $2,000 on average for an applicant that would be going through this process," Warrick said. "There are typically more fees than that, that are associated with filing a rezoning."
During the program’s initial run from October 2017 through March 2018, 12 applications came in, totaling more than 18 acres. The renewal through Dec. 31, 2019, gives some cushion to property owners who want to wait until the buses are running.
The first 12 applications included several around 11th, 41st and 61st streets. City officials hope the second run draws applications farther north and south.
Current discussions involve some properties north of Pine Street.
