I had to check back with the mayor on this one.
Because here is what he said Thursday morning during a discussion with city councilors about whether River Parks should receive $5.6 million in Vision 2025 renewal funds to buy and preserve land on Turkey Mountain:
“My suggestion … would be that certain portions of the land in the area be set aside for purposes that would generate sales tax for the city of Tulsa. In other words, right on top of Turkey Mountain have an area set aside for a restaurant, beautiful views of the city, a place for people when they go walking, they could go see it. …
“The community, the taxpayers, not all are interested in walking through the woods at Turkey Mountain, but they will be very interested in going up to a restaurant or going up to a facility where they could sit and watch, look, experience nature, whatever that might be.”
The mayor prefaced his remarks by saying that efforts to put together a deal to purchase and preserve private property on and around Turkey Mountain have yet to yield results and that the city of Tulsa shouldn’t assume they will.
Until the city knows whether those discussions will bear any fruit, Bartlett said, it should hold off on allocating Vision funds for buying land near Turkey mountain and work to identify property it does own for potential commercial development.
This will obviously get some people’s blood boiling, which is why I put a call in to the Mayor’s Office. Jarred Brejcha, the mayor’s chief of staff, called me back.
His main point: the mayor is not hell-bent on building a restaurant on Turkey Mountain.
Bartlett does, however, believe it would serve the city well to keep open the possibility of commercial development in the area, Brejcha said.
“The same process that River Parks went through to get the Blue Rose, that is a very good example,” Brejcha said.
The Blue Rose Cafe, built along the Arkansas River at approximately 19th Street and Riverside Drive, was proposed in response to a request for proposals from River Parks Authority.
Even if Turkey Mountain and the surrounding area are preserved, funds will be needed to maintain the area and provide programing, Brejcha said.
That’s where sales tax collections from restaurant or other commercial venue could help defray costs and provide a place to rest or something to eat.
“It could really be something that complements the area,” Brejcha said.
River Parks has asked the council to consider allocating $5.6 million from the Vision 2025 sales tax renewal to expand Turkey Mountain’s footprint.
River Parks’ intent, according to a handout provided to city councilors, is to acquire enough land to “secure contiguous recreational properties from the (Arkansas) river to Highway 75, north of 61st Street.”
That would include the 52-plus acres on the northeast corner of 61st Street and Highway 75 where Simon Properties’ Premium Outlet Mall was to have been built, River Parks Executive Director Matt Meyer told councilors.
This outline of River Park's request for $5.6 million in Vision 2025 renewal funds was presented to city councilors earlier this month.
Councilor Phil Lakin expressed strong support for keeping Turkey Mountain a wilderness area.
Councilor Blake Ewing called Bartlett’s proposal a “land mine waiting to happen” and cautioned councilors that they must be clear with voters about how land purchased with Vision funds would be used.
Bartlett made his remarks during a four-hour-plus meeting with city councilors held to determine what economic-development projects should be included in the Vision renewal.
https://www.readfrontier.com/during-vision-2025-renewal-talks-bartlett-suggests-putting-a-restaurant-on-turkey-mountain/